Targeting Category Entry Points for More Effective TV Advertising

As brands look to make every advertising dollar count, a key strategy is enhancing relevance by aligning creative with the right mindspaces. One approach is targeting key Category Entry Points (CEPs) - the cues that trigger category buyers to retrieve brands from memory. Research shows dominating CEPs in messaging helps brands achieve greater mental availability, driving growth.

Link Your Ads to the Right Mindspaces for Maximum Impact

CEPs are the specific cues that prompt a buyer to access their memory when entering a purchasing situation, according to research by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. CEPs can be internal cues like motives and emotions, or external cues like timing, location and activities. While each buying situation is unique, common CEP patterns emerge.

For example, a beer brand could identify CEPs like:

1. Watching the big game (activity + timing)
2. Out with friends on a hot day (social context + weather)
3. Relaxing after yardwork (prior activity)
4. Friday night party (day + social context)

Uncovering CEPS: Questions are the Answer

To identify potential CEPs, use the "W Questions" - Why, Where, When, How etc. Interview customers and sales teams to brainstorm CEPs from both the perspective of business needs and professional's personal goals. Consider how factors like senior management approval, customer reactions, or peer influence shape decisions.

For the beer brand example, this could include asking drinkers:

1. When do you most enjoy drinking beer? On weekends? After work? (When timing)
2. Where do you drink beer? At bars? At home? Tailgates? (Where location)
3. Who do you enjoy having beers with? Friends? Colleagues? Family? (With whom)
4. How do you feel when drinking beer? Happy? Relaxed? Sociable? (How feeling)

With an initial list, evaluate CEPs on:

1. Credibility - Does your brand have existing associations here based on perceptions? For example, is the beer seen as a good choice for watching sports?
2. Competitiveness - How cluttered is this CEP with other brand messaging? Is the "big game" CEP saturated with competitor promotions?
3. Value - Will dominating this CEP drive meaningful sales volume? How many drinkers associate beer with yardwork for example?

This filters to a shortlist of the most credible, least competitive, high-value CEPs.

The beer brand then incorporates priority CEPs into creative executions, focusing on one CEP per ad. For instance, a "big game" focused ad for sports fans, or a "relaxing after yardwork" themed ad for homeowners. Vary CEPs over time to build a wide memory network across drinking occasions. Track brand associations to each CEP via surveys to measure effectiveness.

For the beer brand example, potential CEP-focused ad concepts could include:

1. Big game ad showing friends cheering sports on TV while drinking the beer
2. Backyard BBQ ad with beer being passed around after people finish lawn games
3. Beach ad with beer being enjoyed on a hot day after swimming
4. House party ad showing beer being served on Friday night to friends

Each ad execution focuses on creatively bringing one CEP to life - watching sports, after yard games, hot day, Friday night. The brand tracks which CEPs consumers increasingly associate with the beer over the campaign.

Building "mental availability" - linking your brand to the moments that matter

Over time, the beer brand can measure whether it is building a broad mental network by linking the brand to different high-value CEPs. This is quantified by brand equity surveys asking drinkers:

1. Which situations make you think of drinking [BRAND]?
2. When thinking of [CEP], which beer brands come to mind?

The brand can benchmark its "mental market share" - what percentage of all CEP-beer brand associations are theirs? And "mental network size" - how many CEPs does the average drinker link to their brand?

These metrics help the beer brand identify where more mental connections need building. For example, they may score highly on sports-watching occasions, but have a weaker network size with at-home relaxation CEPs. Future advertising can focus on building out those less developed CEP areas.

Over time, brands with the strongest mental networks, tapping into the most CEPs, have the highest brand growth according to the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute research. Aligning messaging with CEPs makes your advertising both more relevant and effective.

Incorporating CEPs into creative executions and then testing them is crucial. Creative testing validates if the advertising is effectively leveraging CEPs and driving brand memories. When used alongside CEP mapping, pre-testing provides the one-two punch to maximize advertising relevance and effectiveness.

Note: The team @ CreativeTesti.ing focus solely on evaluating ad concepts. If you're interested in a custom CEP project to map category entry points, we recommend consulting our colleagues at HANDMADE INSIGHTS + STRATEGY