Cracking Growth: How to Leverage Category Entry Points (CEPs) for Brand Advantage

Cracking Growth: How to Leverage Category Entry Points (CEPs) for Brand Advantage

How to Leverage CEPs

To harness CEPs effectively, brands must follow a structured approach combining research, prioritization, and consistent execution. Here’s how:

1. Identify the Right CEPs

Use research to map the moments when consumers enter your category. Tools include:

• Ethnography to observe real-world behaviors
• Social listening to uncover online conversations
• TGI data or AI-driven clustering to identify patterns
• Search analysis to track keyword spikes tied to specific moments

Focus on:

• The most common entry points
• Entry points where competitors are strong or weak
• Emerging entry points driven by culture or context (e.g., "Zoom fatigue snacks")

For example, in the face wash category, the CEP “post-commute pollution cleanse” resonates with urban consumers seeking to wash away dust after city travel. Brands like Himalaya can target this with messaging like “City off. Skin on.”

2. Prioritize CEPs with Reach + Relevance

All CEPs are not equal. Prioritize those that:

• Are frequent
• Drive high value
• Are under-contested

In the salt category, “cooking for a loved one” may be more emotionally potent than “cooking quickly,” offering a stronger opportunity for brand association.

3. Build Memory Structures Around CEPs

To ensure your brand is recalled at the moment of category entry, create strong memory structures. Every brand communication should link the brand to a CEP through messaging (e.g., “When you’re cooking for your child’s first lunchbox…”), media choices (e.g., recipe videos at 8 AM), influencer storytelling, or pack formats (e.g., single-serve sachets for travel CEPs). 

Below are six rules, plus a bonus rule, to anchor CEPs in consumers’ minds:

Rule 1: One CEP per Asset

Each creative execution must clearly reinforce a single CEP. Don’t cram “celebration,” “hunger pangs,” and “late night indulgence” into one ad. Instead, craft distinct executions for each—focus breeds recall. For example, Coca-Cola has different ads for “meal occasions” versus “sharing moments.”

Rule 2: Cue–Brand–Benefit Link

Connect the CEP, the brand, and a simple benefit in a tight, repeatable triad. For KitKat: “When you’re tired at 3 PM (CEP), have a KitKat (brand) to take a break (benefit).” This builds associative fluency over time.

Rule 3: Repeat to Imprint

Repetition builds memory—across media, time, and creative formats. Use the same language, visual codes, and sonic identity. Nirma’s “Washing powder Nirma” became synonymous with “value for laundry moms” through consistent jingles and visuals across decades.

Rule 4: Contextual Placement

Place your message where and when the CEP naturally occurs. For the “post-workout refreshment” CEP, ads should appear in fitness apps or gym locker rooms, not during a Netflix thriller. Memory is context-dependent—match moment to message.

Rule 5: Distinctive Assets Lock-In

Always use distinctive brand assets—logos, mascots, color codes, sounds. Amul’s butter girl, tied to the “current affairs” CEP through topical humor, builds equity while making the CEP ownable.

Rule 6: CEP Media Property Lock

Own a consistent, high-frequency media property at the moment of CEP to dominate recall. Tata Tea’s “Jaago Re” aligns with the “morning news consumption” CEP through news channel placements, creating synergy. This “Moment–Media Match” reduces cognitive load, ritualizes brand recall, and taps into existing attention.

Bonus Rule: The CEP Systematization Loop

CEPs should not be ad hoc. Brands should build a CEP matrix:

This helps plan media, content, and innovation pipelines, ensuring systematic activation of high-potential CEPs.

4. Track CEP Penetration

To measure success, track how strongly your brand is associated with target CEPs using brand tracking to measure spontaneous association with each CEP, share of voice around key entry points, and mental availability scores across use-cases. CEP penetration answers: “When this situation arises, how likely is the consumer to think of my brand first (or at all)?” Methods include:

• Brand Association Studies: Ask, “When you think of cooking for guests, which brands come to mind?” Calculate top-of-mind recall and competitor mapping.
• CEP Salience Score: Use a formula like: (Top-of-Mind % × Usage % × Relevance %) ÷ Competitor Average to prioritize CEPs and link to growth.
• Qualitative Deep Dives: Conduct ethnography or interviews to uncover emotional nuances, like why consumers crave sweets late at night.
• Digital Signals: Analyze search trends (e.g., “healthy breakfast near me”) or time-of-day spikes to map CEPs.
• Creative Testing: Measure pre- and post-campaign lift in brand-CEP linkage, including implicit associations.

A sample CEP dashboard is:

This enables sharpened targeting, sales correlation, and innovation cues (e.g., new pack formats for underpenetrated CEPs).

Real-World Examples

Here are three illustrations of how CEP thinking can intersect with 3 categories:

Energy Drinks: Sting and Campa Energy

Targeting Gen Z and young millennials (15–29 years) in urban and semi-urban India, Sting and Campa Energy focus on high-intensity CEPs:

• Physical Recharge: “When I’m physically tired but need to keep going” (post-sports or travel). Sting’s “Tired? Sting it” uses Reels with transformation arcs, owning #RechargeReels.
• Mental Focus: “When I need to stay sharp” (late-night studying). Campa Energy’s “Focus. Fueled” ties to YouTube’s Late Night Coders Club.
• Gaming Mode: “When I need to stay hyped for gaming.” Sting’s #GameWithSting Challenge on Discord uses neon aesthetics.
• Last-Minute Panic: “When I have little time and must stay awake.” Campa’s #LastMinuteLegends series leverages meme pages.
• Party Push: “When energy dips at a party.” Sting’s “Don’t crash. Sting up” owns Midnight Recharge Booths at college fests.

Face Wash: Himalaya and Garnier

Face wash brands target teens, working adults, men, and women 25+ with ritual-driven CEPs:

• Morning Wake-Up Ritual: “Start clean. Start sharp” aligns with Spotify’s morning playlists.
• Post-Commute Pollution Cleanse: “City off. Skin on” ties to AQI apps or Uber receipts.
• Post-Workout Refresh: “Sweat it out. Wash it off” leverages fitness app banners.
• Pre-Meeting Confidence: “Look ready. Feel ready” targets LinkedIn or Zoom screens.
• Night Self-Care Ritual: “Wash away the day” pairs with Calm app placements.
• Acne SOS: “Don’t pop it. Stop it” uses dermatologist Reels.

Alcohol: Whisky brand associated with Celebrations

Targeting urban men (25–45 years), the brand can leverage social and emotional CEPs:

• Post-Work Unwinding: “When I want to relax after a long day.” “Bold End to Your Day” campaigns on OTT platforms during 7–9 PM slots own this moment.
• Celebratory Cheers: “When I’m toasting success with friends.” Ads on sports channels post-cricket matches reinforce this CEP.
• Confidence Boost: “When I need to feel bold before a big moment.” LinkedIn or YouTube motivation videos align with this need.

Owning IPL post-match slots or LinkedIn’s “career milestone” content builds mental availability. Tracking asks: “What drink comes to mind when toasting a promotion?”

The Future of CEP-Led Marketing

As India becomes more digitally addressable and culturally complex, micro-CEPs like “waiting for a cab in the rain” will gain importance. AI and media tech allow precise targeting, embedding CEPs into brand memory with accuracy. Marketers who map, match, and measure CEPs will win the next frontier of growth by turning fleeting needs into lasting loyalty. But this is for another article.