New category entries need accelerated awareness, differentiation and relevance generation.
Brands entering a new category must work harder to build consideration, especially in categories with high consumer involvement and inertia to change. For instance, some of the fundamental driving forces for brand choice in retail banking are an organization’s legacy and customers’ experience with the bank. This sector also has the added challenge of lack of differentiation in offerings to consumers as they are government regulated, and all organizations have to offer the same per guidelines. Organizations differentiate through the quality of services they provide and their brand perception and image. New entrants need to work harder to build trust and preference and thus attract customers towards them.
Creating platforms to springboard awareness and adoption.
Associative marketing partnerships with mega properties can help jumpstart awareness and build a positive brand image. For a reputed micro-finance company moving into the formal banking sector, we created a powerful partnership as the ‘Official Banking Partner of BCCI. With the platform of Indian cricket and a new award category created for the first time – ‘Most Bankable Player’ – we could ramp up awareness and association with the company’s powerful philosophy and ethos in the new category at scale. With a marketing command center specially set up for the company, we could also track the association and influence reputation building and business growth.
Activating the right levers and sustained presence.
There are some essential steps in the process:
- Identify the right platform. Evaluate its scale, assets available for activation and relevance in the lives of key consumer segments.
- Be original and creative while activating the platform assets.
- Evaluate the ability of the association to work as a media multiplier across paid and owned media, both mainline and digital.
- Sustain the association over a long period to move the needle from awareness to adoption to preference and brand loyalty.