How Easypaisa Swiftly Repositioned Its Brand Using an Out-Of-The-Box Marketing Strategy

Launching 10 years ago, Easypaisa shot to instant fame as it rid Pakistanis of the conventional banking hassles. It made physical visits to bank branches and lengthy paperwork – major roadblocks to financial inclusion – things of the past. Opening a financial account was now literally at people’s fingertips, and even those with a feature phone could now send and receive money completely effortlessly.

It was a true financial services revolution – one that was long overdue. It brought an end to the long queues that were a regular sight outside bank branches. People were now able to pay their bills at the nearest shop, instead of designated bank branches at fixed hours. It was the beginning of a fintech-led transformation of Pakistan’s financial services landscape.

It didn’t take Easypaisa long to become a household name, which it still is today even with many similar products present in the market. The brand name became synonymous with mobile money transfers: If people had to send or receive money, they’d say “Easypaisa it to me”. It was the pinnacle of fame and trust that any brand dreams of achieving. But there was a problem: Easypaisa’s perception got very closely linked with the base of the pyramid.

The need and challenge of brand repositioning

Although Easypaisa launched its mobile app in 2016 targeting smartphone users and bringing digital payments to the users’ fingertips, the perception still needed to be changed. “What we observed was that the market started moving and there were a lot more things happening at the top of the pyramid with people who were more digitally connected and were smartphone users,” shares Khurram Malik, CMO, Easypaisa.

Considering its business ambitions, Easypaisa decided to reposition, rebrand, and relaunch the brand to position it for the millennials as the digital-first payment provider. The brand decided to take its message of ‘Easypaisa easy hai’ to the new target audience as swiftly and efficiently as possible.

“One of our big challenges was to reach to our relevant target group and audiences in the most effective and quickest possible time,” shares Subhan S. Ahmed, Head of Marketing & Digital Growth, Easypaisa. “With the revised brand and IMC strategy, we needed an innovative solution to take this new creative to its intended target audience.”

An out-of-the-box marketing strategy

To meet its marketing goals, Easypaisa chose an unorthodox approach: It concentrated the campaign on digital where it picked Google Blast to disseminate its message to the right audience at the right time. “It’s a high-reach and a high-frequency solution designed to effectively reach the maximum size of the audience in the shortest amount of time to drive top-of-mind awareness,” shares Subhan.

“It effectively leverages Google’s properties of search, display, and YouTube to have a high reach and high frequency,” Subhan adds. “Since Google Blast was never done in Pakistan before, we were the first brand to virtually take over the internet, so much so that the campaign was unmissable.”

The results were impressive. Easypaisa reached 88% of its target audience within 72 hours of the campaign. Its overall integrated media plan helped Easypaisa become number three on Google Play Store. Plus, the brand saw a drop in cost-per-install almost 30-45 days into the launch of the campaign. All of this combined to help Easypaisa shift customer perception quickly and effectively.

“Looking at the results, I believe that our decision proved right,” says Khurram Malik. “Integrated plan not only helped us increase our app uptake, but also helped us connect to our target audience much better. We believe that YouTube is going to be an integral part of our media strategy going forward.”