SPARK Case Studies
SPARK has provided growth solutions for dozens of companies, from startups making formative strategic decisions to industry leaders seeking to optimize the equity in their brands and the value of their assets. Below are just a few examples of how we got involved, devised solutions, and helped clients achieve their goals in the fundamental areas of business growth, strategic partnerships, and market influence.
Building a Category
Solution: Creative Messaging / Category: Female Health
Challenge: A company that provided female sexual health products was hampered by media challenges. Ninety five percent of the leading media outlets, including network and cable TV stations, radio and websites, refused to run the company’s advertising, despite running ads for similar products from other, larger companies. With limited access to paid media as a tool, the brand needed to define a voice for itself and drive conversation, awareness and sales.
Strategic Growth Solution: SPARK applied strategic and creative thinking to develop an ongoing series of business, product and lifestyle stories that generated interest across media channels. The company emerged as the category leader in female sexual satisfaction with a continuous stream of interest, increased distribution, revenue, and profit.
Partnership Identification
Solution: Growth Strategy / Category: Skincare
Challenge: A leading consumer products company wanted to apply a technology across their brand portfolio. The team knew that it needed to “translate” the technology appropriately into differentiated positioning that reflected the targets of each brand. With limited resources, the company called on SPARK to define the appropriate positioning.
Strategic Growth Solution: SPARK conducted customized and extensive consumer research to determine the appropriate communication of the technology within each brand footprint. SPARK created differentiated and meaningful positionings for each brand that highlighted the technology and the benefit to target consumers. The work resulted in market growth for each franchise.
Building a Category
Solution: Switch Strategy / Category: Women’s Health
Challenge: A leading pharmaceutical company, with a foothold in women’s health, needed to assess the viability of an Rx-to-OTC switch. While expert in technology and pharmaceutical marketing, the team had limited experience in understanding the requirements for building an OTC brand, especially in a new category. The company had a number of strategic questions including target (lowest-hanging fruit), insights that would drive that target and how to differentiate its offering in what would quickly become a crowded category.
Strategic Growth Solution: SPARK employed a combination of company and thought leader interviews, intense data review, case studies and extensive consumer research to the challenge. The team was able to get clarity on the target, insight and go-to-market approach most likely to generate desired business results. Working with a cross-functional team, SPARK developed brand positioning and key messaging which was validated in quantitative research. This learning laid the foundation for launch and growth.
Building a Category
Solution: Target Expansion / Category: Baby Products
Challenge: An iconic leader in the baby shampoo industry found itself searching for new growth despite limited product innovation and stagnant positioning. In order to regain its leadership position, the brand needed to identify and appeal to consumers beyond its core target. And the core target needed to find the “shared” benefits of the product meaningful.
Strategic Growth Solution: SPARK implemented a dual-pronged approach to build on an existing brand affinity and expand the product’s market beyond its core consumer target, driving purchases from the core as well as from a large sub-segment of a key adult market. The strategy was translated into new creative that put the product back in the leadership position in the category.
Building a Category
Solution: Strategic Partnership Development / Category: Food Delivery Services
Challenge: A food delivery service for older adults sought to expand its customer base by securing insurance coverage from major healthcare plans, which would allow it to target hospitals as a channel for growth.
Strategic Growth Solution: SPARK developed a controlled test program with a leading hospital chain. During a 30-day test period, half of the patients in the test group received the food delivery service, while the other half did not. The patients who received the food had a lower 30-day readmission rate, a key metric used by hospitals and insurance companies. We used data from the test to prove the cost savings of the service as well as its positive impact on patient health. As a result, the food service was purchased by multiple leading healthcare insurers.