We haven't told our story enough, why are we Not Secondary?

When you're building a company, it's easy to get consumed by working in your business rather than on it. This is especially familiar in consultancy and advisory: you're constantly focused on business development and delivering assignments, leaving little time to step back and reflect on your brand, your positioning, and why your company exists in the first place.

That realisation has been hitting me more and more lately. In conversations with potential clients, we'd dive straight into the substance: solutions, plans, benefits, benchmarks. Valuable, no doubt, but in doing so, we were no longer telling the story behind Not Secondary. The story that explains why we exist, what drives us, and why organisations choose us.

And that story matters. It's actually one of the reasons people so often spontaneously compliment our company. "What a great name." Almost always without me having explained why we're called that. That was my signal that it was time to go back to the drawing board. Not to create something radically new, but to tell our story more consistently and visibly, and to build a community around it. That also meant a refreshed visual identity. Our old style had been developed with an almost activist edge, while we were never really an activist organisation.

From consultancy to consultancy and SaaS

From 1 January 2026, we will offer our own SaaS solution alongside our advisory services: Total Benefits. That means we are no longer purely a consultancy, but also a software company. That calls for a brand that supports both pillars and projects the same promise. Our brand experience needed to evolve, and that's exactly what we've done.

And yes, our name is regularly misspelled

I frequently see (potential) clients scheduling meetings with titles like NotSecundary or NotSecundairy. Understandable, but it also shows we need to carry our brand even more clearly. Perhaps our sharpened style and positioning can help with that.

And then there's another challenge

Many of our clients prefer that we don't publicly share that we work with them. Out of concern that simply mentioning us might raise employee expectations around benefits. That limits our ability to showcase our cases, while we work with truly remarkable organisations. Hopefully this won't apply to Total Benefits. From 2026, we aim to share each quarter which new organisations have joined the platform.

So what does Not Secondary stand for?

Our name actually says it all. We do everything in the field of secondary benefits. But for us, those benefits are never secondary.

For two reasons:

• Because we specialise entirely in secondary benefits.
• Because anything that can have this much impact on employees' lives is, for us, automatically primary.

Not Secondary, then. Not second. Not an afterthought. That's why our new logo contains a subtly hidden 1 in the N, a nod to Not Second.

Our brand values

The core of Not Secondary is built on reliable and flexible collaboration, combined with thought leadership and creative clarity. We simplify complex topics, bring structure, implement sustainable solutions, and help organisations move forward. We are people-centred, precise, independent, energetic, and innovative. And above all: accessible and genuinely enjoyable to work with.

Our brand promise

We are the only partner that puts benefits at the centre, and that delivers innovative solutions with flexibility, reliability, and a service-driven mindset that make a real impact on people and organisations.

Why all of this matters

We want to be a brand that appeals to clients. But equally important: a brand that appeals to people who want to build something with us.

HR professionals often tell us how exciting what we do is. We want potential colleagues and freelancers who come across our company to feel that same energy.

And that's why it was time to tell our story again. Clearly, recognisably, and humanly. Exactly as Not Secondary is meant to be.