Using Data to Build a Brand
In a ProductTank London talk, Abba Newberry, the CMO at Habito, explains how data can be instrumental in building a brand. She humorously notes that product and marketing teams often seem at odds because product teams are highly data-driven, whereas marketing teams often view data as a creativity killer.
Abba’s presentation exemplifies how combining research with data can create memorable, creative brand marketing that also enhances performance in other marketing areas.
Challenging Markets
Building a digital mortgage business comes with its challenges. High street banks dedicate large budgets to mortgage advertising due to its profitability. Moreover, capturing the interest of potential customers with mortgage messages is extremely difficult. On top of that, in today’s digital world, people rarely watch ads anymore. Given these hurdles, Habito had to adopt unique strategies to grab customers’ attention and make their brand memorable.
Peak-End Rule
Abba and her team recognized the importance of choosing the right kind of advertising. People generally don’t recall the details of a video; they remember the best moment, the worst moment, and the end. This is known as the peak-end rule, which guided their marketing approach. Since people won’t remember the specifics of a product ad, the team focused on creating an emotional impact. They avoided showcasing the product or listing its benefits. Instead, they aimed to evoke the feelings and experiences associated with solving the customer’s problems.
Customer Insights & Data-Driven Ads
To create effective ads, Abba’s team needed a comprehensive understanding of their customers’ experiences and emotions. They conducted thorough research to grasp the issues and feelings customers had regarding mortgages. This research provided valuable insights, both quantitative and qualitative, which were used to craft memorable advertisements. Some of their findings included:
– 52% of people felt they were overpaying for a mortgage, describing the experience as feeling “robbed blind” due to numerous charges, with confusion about whether they were getting a good rate.
– Many customers found mortgage jargon overwhelming. Habito’s team worked with linguists for a year to simplify the language, reducing the reading level of their mortgage details from an 18-year-old’s comprehension to an 11-year-old’s.
– The mortgage process was often described as stressful, with some feeling like they were “drowning,” leading to an average loss of 7 hours of sleep during the process.
Abba highlighted some ads created using this data, showing how they fused creativity with customer insights to design a distinctive and memorable marketing campaign. This strategic approach led to their brand growing threefold year over year and cutting overall marketing costs by more than 75%, a significant achievement given their competition with big banks. The main takeaway from Abba’s talk is that marketers and product teams can leverage data to drive the creative process, address customer pain points, and build a strong brand.