Data-driven brand strategy accelerates sustainable transition at SME Fuel

The world of mobility is in a state of flux, and SME Fuel is playing a pioneering role in this by offering smart and clean transportation solutions. The company used to focus mainly on fuel cards for self-employed people and SMEs. Meanwhile, sustainability is firmly embedded in the company strategy and MKB Brandstof also offers solutions such as charge cards and charging stations.

The challenge: How do you develop a brand strategy that reflects this new, sustainable direction while connecting to the needs of (potential) customers?

The approach

Step 1: Establish Category Entry Points (CEPs).

In an interactive process consisting of preliminary research and an internal workshop, Validators worked with SME Fuel to identify the most important Category Entry Points. These CEPs represent the buying situations, motivations and contexts in which a product or service should be top-of-mind with the target group.

Step 2: Large-scale survey of the target population

A quantitative study was then conducted, measuring the relevance and brand consideration of MKB Fuel - as well as the competition - by Category Entry Point. In addition, potential barriers (Reasons Not To Buy) that prevent people from choosing MKB Fuel were examined.

Step 3: Custom made dashboard

The insights from the research were compiled into a customized dashboard. This allows SME Fuel itself to sift through the data at any time and perform various segmentations and "deep dives.

Concrete outcomes and follow-up

Thanks to the broad approach, MKB Brandstof gained insight into which mobility solutions fit well with the needs of (future) customers and where competitors are being considered. The CEPs and RNTBs provide concrete guidance for making the brand strategy more sustainable and for better positioning the service. By using the dashboard, the company can continuously adjust these insights, so that future decisions are not only based on intuition, but also on hard data. This actively supports the transition to a smarter and cleaner world - with sustainable mobility solutions for everyone.