Earlier, we looked at a few examples of products that were launched successfully with creative marketing strategies. This discussion asks you to identify and share effective marketing strategies from a short case study about a WePay launch and from your own experiences with successful product launches.
Instructions: Identifying WePay’s marketing strategies
- Read the case study: WePay seized an opportunity for its launch when its competitor, PayPal, received negative publicity about freezing member accounts. WePay showed up at PayPal’s annual developer conference and demonstrated a massive block of ice with frozen cash and the message ‘Paypal freezes your accounts’ in it.
WePay wanted to assure its users that it would never freeze their accounts. Within about two hours of dropping the ice, WePay’s stunt was on TechCrunch’s front page. It also featured on other popular tech sites. The publicity from the exercise resulted in: three times more conversions on the stunt landing page 225% increase in web traffic 300% increase in signups. This was achieved with a start-up’s limited marketing budget. - Answer the following questions:
- How was WePay positioned and what was its main product messaging?
- What specific factors of their marketing strategy do you think made it successful?
- Post your answers in the discussion group.
- Respond to at least one of your peers’ posts by considering the risks associated with the WePay strategy and reflecting on other examples of successful product marketing strategies that you have experienced or learned about.
WePay positioned itself as a customer friendly and reliable alternative to PayPal and it’s core message was *WEPAY WILL NEVER FREEZE YOUR ACCOUNT*specific factors that made it successful
Targeted venue, shareability,Relevance and clear messaging.
Wepay effectively used a positioning marketing strategy by capitalizing on PayPal’s negative publicity, positioning itself as a reliable and trustworthy alternative with no fees and a commitment not to freeze users’ accounts. By targeting customers dissatisfied with PayPal’s practices, Wepay simplified its messaging and leveraged the opportunity to attract more users, meeting their immediate needs for security and transparency.
Wepay used paypals weakness to boost and create traffic thereby giving them a higher competitive advantage and highlighting their own strengths. Through messaging the strongly assured potential clients that they will never freeze their accounts unlike their competitors product.
they focused on competitor analysis thus encompassing SWOT analysis to determine competitors strengths and weaknesses.
Wepay capitalised on the shortcomings of PayPal to gain access and acceptance into the market. They were adequately prepared and ready to take advantage of the lapses of their competitors. That speaks volume of their their mission. Since what will draw customer’s to patronise and be a loyal customer is reliability and trustworthiness. And these are the promises made by Wepay.
Therefore, the ability to position oneself to cease opportunities is what gives competitive edge over one another. As far as they can do better is all that matters.
Backlash or Legal Issues: Criticizing a competitor directly can backfire or invite legal challenges. This is one of the advantages of the strategy Wepay used.
Positioning and Main Product Messaging: WePay positioned itself as a reliable alternative to PayPal, emphasizing trust and user-centric service. The main product message was: “We don’t freeze your accounts,” directly addressing PayPal’s perceived flaw.
Factors of Success in Marketing Strategy:
• Bold and Creative Stunt: The ice block visual was dramatic and instantly conveyed their message.
• Timing and Context: Leveraged the negative sentiment around PayPal’s account freezing policy during its developer conference.
• Targeted Audience: Appealed to PayPal’s core user base, developers and businesses, at their own event.
• Media Amplification: Garnered extensive press coverage on high-traffic tech platforms like TechCrunch, multiplying the reach.
While the strategy was effective, it carried risks like potential legal action or backlash from PayPal. Another successful marketing example is Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign, which directly compared Mac to PC, emphasizing user benefits while engaging audiences creatively.
Wepay use the positioning marketing strategy.
They positioned themselves as a reliable source to Target the audience of their company will never do such of what paypal did.. and with this they had an increase.
They use the weak moment of PayPal to target more customers to there services which they knew that what the customers wanted at that moment.
Wepay positioned itself as a reliable source to customers than PayPal, they was no fee attached and they entrusted in customers that everything would go on well by using the negative publicity of PayPal. Their messaging was simple and easy to comprehend .
The stunt that wepay used by saying they won’t freeze their users account
attracted the audience and made their marketing strategy easier
WePay positioned itself as a reliable and trustworthy alternative to PayPal. Their main product messaging was that they were a payment service that would never freeze its users’ accounts.
Capitalizing on a competitor’s weakness: WePay took advantage of PayPal’s negative publicity to highlight their own strengths.
Creative and memorable stunt: The ice block stunt was a visually striking and unforgettable way to convey their message.
Clear and concise messaging: Their message was simple and easy to understand: WePay is reliable and won’t freeze your accounts.
Timing: The stunt was executed at the right time, during PayPal’s annual developer conference, maximizing its impact.
Leveraging Media Attention: They used the media attention to amplify their message and reach a wider audience.
You are right
Wepay was able to strategically position themselves by capitalizing on their competitions loophole and weakness.
They did this by conducting adequate research and also studying what the customers really wanted.
It was also a situation of preparedness.
This company{WEPAY} used a strategic method to advertise their product to their proposed customers by presenting a better option which will interest the customers. They showed that they did their research well by analyzing the weak points of their competitor which was PayPal so they made a promise not to freeze their accounts.
The message was simple, also the demonstration of the action physically made their patronage increased a lot higher by 225%