Ahead of CustomerX, the Cross-Sector Commerce Summit, we look ahead to a discussion in the Changemaker Theatre that promises commercial insights for those setting up challenger brands.
Sometimes, the shock of the new can be too much. Companies that want to disrupt the existing order enter a market, but their ideas encounter resistance. But sometimes new entrants genuinely do shake things up.
So what is it that separates out those that do succeed? At CustomerX on 14 October, in From Brand Disruption to Commercial Impact – The Unlikely Link Between Three Distinct Category Trailblazers at CustomerX, there’s the chance to hear directly from senior figures at three businesses that have shaken things up.
And have done so in the very different sectors of insurance, telecoms and banking:
Hastings Direct: founded in 1996, the insurers have adopted a mobile-first, digital-first and data-led business model. Customers typically deal with Hastings via its app. The company has been innovative in introducing such initiatives as YouDrive. Using the app and a small wireless tab, this helps motorists save money because safe drivers get lower quotes, especially valuable for customers who typically pay more such as younger drivers.
Lebara: taking its name from the names of its founders, LEon, BAskaran and RAtheesan, the telecoms company was founded in 2001. This was a time when just getting connected to a mobile service was expensive and from the off Lebara wanted to bring down the costs for customers. Today, the company offers SIM-only plans from as little as £5 a month and has three million customers in the UK.
Monzo: the challenger bank set up business in 2015 and was granted its full banking licence in 2017. The company has no branches. Instead, customers manage their accounts primarily via app. From the off, Monzo was innovative in such areas as peer-to-peer payments, and the company encourages feedback as a way to help it develop new features and products.
So what is it that drove the success of these trailblazers? There’s a thread that connects all three companies, as Parry Jones, CEO of media agency The Specialist Works, will explore when he chairs a panel discussion featuring:
- Tom Daniell, Chief Marketing Officer at Hastings Direct
- David Clyde, Group Brand Director, Lebara
- Charlotte Ford, Brand, Content & Partnerships Senior Director, Monzo
The panel will discuss key questions around branding and shaking up markets:
- In what ways did you refuse to look, sound or behave like other businesses in your sector?
- Crowded categories usually compete on price or product specs so how did you make the conversation about something else entirely?
- Telecoms, insurance and banking look nothing alike on paper, what is the one thing all three of you did that made distinctiveness memorable and commercial?
Learn more about how your business can succeed in a new era of connected commerce by registering for CustomerX, the Cross-Sector Commerce Summit.
This article first appeared on the CustomerX Substack.
