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Our initial research and analysis quickly identified that EQR was suffering from a rare condition known as 'brand fatigue'.  When interviewed, over 80 per cent of our market research sample put EQR 'front of mind' as a leading finance company, but less than 20 per cent had actually considered using them.

Further diagnosis revealed that a large amount of time and budget had been spent on brand building, which had worked really well, but little of the same had been applied to targeted sales messages.

The challenge then was to switch the emphasis from brand building to sales. This was achieved by first segmenting the audience to provide more focused, more efficient advertising and branding.  This segmentation was applied visually, quite literally on a big board, with photographic characters being given names, personalities and buying habits - thus identifying the target group and how they might use a loan. We reasoned that a 20-year-old would be more likely to buy a plasma screen or a first car than a Bentley or a yacht. 

Our research confirmed this view and highlighted that EQR’s customers were more concerned with how much, and for what, rather than which type of loan, the conditions or even cost of a loan. The segmentation board proved to be a really handy tool when explaining the new campaign to sales and admin staff, who would be turning the increased number of leads into sales.  Existing clients were then subtly targeted alongside new business, creating greater income streams from customers who were already familiar with the EQR experience and, therefore, the cheapest to reach.

We applied these findings to our website strategy – basing our user experience on very visual and direct calls to action.  Illustrations of loan amounts and monthly repayments were employed to reinforce the visual illustrations of loan usage, essentially creating a shop window for EQR’s product.

Aims
To refresh the brand identity
To notify the public of a change of address
To reposition EQR as a convenient ‘high street’ centre
To assist the sales team to close sales
To build a sales-driven website

Solution
Segment the existing clients
Build upon the contact database
Recategorise sales groups from loan types to typical customer requirements
Include illustrations of loans and typical monthly payments

Results
A new welcoming setting for potential customers to discuss their finances
Customers had the perception that EQR already understood their needs
A more knowledgeable customer base
A significant increase in enquiries 

Comment
Working alongside EQR was text book stuff for us, following The Idea Works manual to the letter. Research and evaluation was followed by a confirmation of findings against objectives and, only then, did we implement an appropriate creative solution. More often than not, the way to solve a problem is to follow a clearly defined process. What that process is, we'd be happy to explain...just give us a call.