![[Case Study] Jazz Communication - Provident - "When it matters to you"](https://media.iqads.ro/2017/07/provi-cover-850.jpg)
Back in 2013 Provident was mostly a brand oriented towards people in immediate need of money, who only accessed loans as a last resort for temporary needs, balancing their precarious financial situation resulted from 2009 economic crisis. As optimism increased, Provident had to find a way to avoid brand irrelevance and a potential decreasing in customers’ preferences, as well as overcoming the increasing competition.
The following story is about reinventing the brand, its communication and portfolio, based on a deeper understanding of its customers. The platform “When it matters to you” – inspired from over 6,000 customers’ real stories - proved to be the right strategic move at the right time. Its implementation throughout the years has accelerated the growth of Provident and secured leadership in the face of a more aggressive competition.
Context
Up to 2013, Provident communication had a problem-solution approach, focusing on people's hardships and on how Provident offered them a fast-financial solution. However, this approach was not effective anymore due to increased competition and due to changes in people’s needs – money was not a surviving tool anymore, but a means to accomplishing goals and long-term investments. Also, as the market matured, advertising became more important for competitive brands, as well for Provident.
There were two challenging moments for Provident – the first one in 2013 - when the strategy of addressing the urgent needs of struggling Romanians was no longer ensuring significant growth – and, as a consequence, there needed to be a change in voice while repositioning the brand in order to attract new segments of customers.
The second one was in 2015 - when the competitors started to tackle the lower segments with dedicated products and functional communication. This time the solution stood in a portfolio diversification, offering more options to an extended, upgraded target, under the same communication platform - “When it matters to you” - which proved to be really effective since its launch in 2013.
Objectives
1. Increase the probability to take a loan (addressing the “undecided” segment) and recommendation for Provident brand.
2. Increase the incoming leads in contact center (generated exclusively through advertising), in a more cluttered advertising context.
3. Accelerate business growth versus market.
Communication Strategy. Executions
"The loan for what truly matters to you, when it really matters to you" was the idea behind the platform.
We all get our chances in life, our moments of inspiration and, sometimes, one small step can make a big difference. Provident became the supporter of people brave enough to follow their dreams, transforming an idea into reality, offering them the right loan, fast and easy, when they needed it.
We used storytelling to portray inspirational and personal Provident customers’ stories such as: transforming the desires of loved ones into reality (to own a car) or supporting a child’s talent in playing the piano.
In 2015, with the extension of the Provident products portfolio, we emphasized the OPTIONS, the personalized solutions which allowed people to take new steps in their lives.
We decided to keep the communication platform we developed in 2013 and same storytelling format, yet make it relevant to segments of upscale people, who were more financial educated and more analytic.
We dedicated specific executions to Young Aspiring or Easy Home Makers target segments, with stories that took inspiration one step further: “The Burger Van” was the story of a father who decided to finance his son’s dream of having a food truck or “The Guesthouse”, the story of a young couple who transformed their grandparents' house in a Bed & Breakfast.
Media
In terms of media, the goal was to approach the potential customer on two levels:
1) to inspire them to follow on their plans and realistic aspirations (TV & online video);
2) to inform them about the differentiating product features (web banners, press ads, drop mail flyers, other support channels).
Results
We proved that the right brand repositioning at the right time of the market, with the right implementation plan, can deliver outstanding business results even in a highly cluttered market.
The planned objectives were overachieved, Provident registering higher increases versus the targeted objectives:
- The probability to take a loan and the recommendation for Provident, measured through the quarterly brand tracker.
- Increase in the number of leads to call center for the entire period despite the decreased Share of Voice.
- Higher growth rate versus market growth, according to the BNR data.
The teams involved
The Jazz Communication Team & the Provident Marketing Team, more than 10 people along the 4 years of platform implementation.
