Defining an Authentic, Meaningful Brand Positioning & Purpose
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Situation
LendingTree, America’s largest lending network, had experienced substantial growth, both organically and through acquisition. As a result, they wished to identify their brand purpose and overall brand positioning based on the perceptions, attributes and values that defined their internal and external brand experiences. The outcomes of this study were to guide branding and marketing initiatives moving forward.
Listening & Learning
Working closely with LendingTree’s research and marketing teams, Compendium designed and conducted a robust research initiative involving both internal stakeholders and their brand’s target customer segments.
- In-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with company leadership, from the CEO to category directors and sub-brand leaders. These conversations uncovered both what was special, as well as the challenges, about their brand.
- An extensive competitive analysis dove into key competitors’ market presence, positioning strategies, customer and employee experience ratings.
- Focus groups were conducted with target segments in three U.S. regions with the objectives of understanding shopping habits, gaining reactions to brand purpose and positioning options and various communications concepts. Compendium led and conducted an agile research process, with client teams observing the research real-time, providing feedback and ideas, based on target audience responses.
Leveraging Insights
The project culminated in a socialization workshop, where the research insights were presented and discussed, including target consumer personas and recommended brand positioning and purpose statements. Following the workshop, company leadership conducted a series of internal sessions to further socialize the insights.
In the fast-paced financial services industry, the ongoing commitment of both company leadership and those impacted directly by the study insights and recommendations, contributed greatly to the overall success and actionability of this branding study.
“The work Compendium did was very influential. To this day, we still quote some of our focus group subjects and the findings that came from it. The insights led to the development of our 2019 TV campaign and have influenced other work we’ve done too. Much of what we developed from a positioning aspect back then – including the positioning statement – is still relevant.”
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