Hooking the Credit-worthy: How CRED Mastered Exclusivity Marketing

   
•     Team Digitofy
   
•     December 12, 2023

CRED has rapidly emerged as India’s most exclusive digital platform for credit card management. By psychologically rewarding responsible bill payment behavior through an ingenious system of coins and privileges, it has gamified sound financial habits. 

With funding and growth milestones that would be the envy of any startup, CRED has already captured the mindshare of premium cardholders. As it now looks to convert this niche dominance into mass market leadership, sound marketing strategies become paramount. 

This blog will analyze CRED’s aspirational positioning, target premium personas, product and pricing innovations, digital distribution finesse, and viral tactics. It aims to showcase how CRED has interwoven excellence across the marketing mix to make credit card management a desirable experience through an elite membership appeal. Recommendations will be provided to sustain this momentum as CRED vies for the crown of India’s top financial wellness brand.

About CRED

Founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah, CRED operates an app allowing credit card holders to pay their bills and manage their payments. By paying bills on time via CRED, customers earn CRED coins that can be redeemed for exclusive rewards, cashback, and experiences from premium brand partners like Samsung, Apple, Starbucks, Uber, and more.

The service aims to incentivize creditworthy individuals to be responsible with credit and payments. Given India’s high credit card debt and low financial literacy, CRED taps into a significant consumer need while rewarding positive economic behavior.

CRED has raised over $300 million in funding from top investors like DST Global, Tiger Global, Sofina, and more at a valuation of $2.2 billion. With 7.5 million customers and counting, CRED is positioned for rapid growth in the coming years.

What is New with CRED?

CRED has introduced several new features and offerings to improve customer experience and drive growth:

• CRED Store: Launched an e-commerce store with exclusive and curated products that can only be accessed by CRED members
• CRED Pay: UPI payment feature added, allowing easy peer-to-peer and merchant payments
• CRED Mint: Offers credit line facility up to Rs 5 lakhs to customers based on creditworthiness
• CRED Stash: Free credit card to members that gives 2% annual stake rewards along with other benefits
• Partnerships: Tied up with premium brands like Samsung, Apple, Starbucks, Zegna, and ITC Hotels for top-tier reward products and experiences

These value-added offerings improve stickiness, drive habit creation, and incentivize transactions within the CRED ecosystem.

Buyer Persona

As CRED operates an invite-only app targeting creditworthy individuals, defining its target audience is crucial for an effective marketing strategy. Key highlights of CRED’s buyer persona include:

Demographics

• 25 to 40 years old
• Male and female working professionals
• Metro city dwellers
• Annual income of Rs 10 lakhs+

Marketing Mix Strategy

CRED employs differentiated marketing strategies across the 4 Ps of marketing to acquire, engage, and retain high-value cardholders.

Product Strategy

The core CRED product centers around convenience, control, and rewards:

• Convenience: Simple app UI and UX for seamless credit card bill payments
• Control: Tracks expenses, credit utilization, and score improvement areas
• Rewards: CRED coins and access to premium brand partners and deals

Additional product features further drive stickiness and transaction volumes:

• CRED Store: Exclusive products only for members
• CRED Pay: Frictionless peer-to-peer payments
• CRED Mint: Instant credit line access basis creditworthiness
• CRED Stash: Free credit card with additional rewards

CRED can keep expanding its offerings under financial services, payments, and commerce as it scales to serve premium Indian customers better.

Pricing Strategy

CRED uses a freemium pricing model with the following components:

• Free membership: For basic credit card bill pay features and some reward partners
• Paid memberships:
  • CRED Protect: Insurance protection bundles priced from Rs 499 to 2999 per annum
  • CRED Cash+: Offers higher cashback and rewards for Rs 1000 to 5000 annual fee

Higher-tier memberships improve monetization while giving added benefits to premium customers. Special discount bundles also create scarcity and exclusivity.

CRED also monetizes through:

• Interchange fees from CRED Pay UPI and card transactions
• Merchant transaction fees and subscription plans for CRED Store partners
• Interest charges from CRED Mint and Stash credit lines

Place Strategy

As a fintech app targeting metro city millennials and Gen Z, CRED employs a strong digital-first distribution strategy:

• App downloads: Available on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store
• Website: User-friendly website for product information and app download prompt
• Email/SMS: Channel for transaction alerts, rewards updates, and engagement

With 7.5 million members, CRED enjoys organic solid growth through word-of-mouth and social media buzz. For customer acquisition at scale, digital marketing is critical:

• Search & Display Ads: Google, YouTube and programmatic networks
• Social Media: Instagram and Facebook ads to target personas
• Affiliate marketing: Partnerships with credit cards, financial services, and e-commerce players

Omnichannel presence across high-traffic digital properties ensures CRED stays top-of-mind among prospective consumers searching for related offerings.

Promotions Strategy

CRED deploys online and offline promotions to acquire new customers, engage existing ones, and incentivize transactions:

• Referral rewards: Users invite friends via custom referral links and get CRED coins for sign-ups
• Influencer marketing: Top celebrities, athletes, and experts post CRED promotions with branded hashtags on social media
• Exclusive events: CRED hosts elite concerts, parties, and shows for members, with rare performances
• Seasonal promotions: Special CRED coin bonanzas during festive sale events
• Cross-sell rewards: Bundled offer rewards when signing up for more than one CRED product
• Gamification: Jackpot prizes, auctions, and attractive rewards are part of app engagement

Through aspirational and social media-fueled tactics, CRED has built an exclusive community united by healthy financial behavior.

The “CRED”-ible Competitors

While CRED dominates the Indian credit card management space with its rewards-driven value proposition, a few competitors are vying for a slice of the pie:

1. CardSett

CardSett offers complimentary credit card management features like bill payment, expenditure tracking, credit limit monitoring, and personalized offers. However, it lacks CRED’s polished premium rewards platform and exclusivity factor.

2. Cred

Cred is a US-based cryptocurrency platform allowing users to earn interest on holdings. With similar names but almost unrelated offerings, it doesn’t directly compete with the Indian CRED. However, it dilutes some brand equity in global markets.

3. FamPay

FamPay targets youth with its family debit card linked to their parent’s account. The GenZ focus and cashback rewards make it an indirect play in CRED’s space. However, divergent positioning and target audiences minimize competition.

While these apps offer subsets of CRED’s offerings, none have replicated the exclusivity and prestige factor driving CRED’s phenomenal growth.

The Art of Allure: CRED’s Marketing Strategies

Through intelligent digital marketing and brand positioning, CRED has made credit card management an elite experience. Some key strategies are:

CRED’s viral marketing strategy

CRED employed inventive viral tactics to acquire users rapidly. First, they sent personalized cakes to select credit cardholders with a polite message to pay their bills, sparking delight and word-of-mouth buzz about CRED’s courtesy. Next, they capitalized on the hugely popular IPL cricket tournament by offering 100% cashback if users paid card bills on the CRED app. 

Additionally, they displayed photos of top compliant users on stadium big screens during IPL matches. This created an enormous viral effect with FOMO as millions scrambled to get featured on the coveted screens, exponentially boosting CRED’s user base by 90 lakhs through this creative social proof and scarcity-based campaign. The ingenious real-world touchpoint with cake delivery, plus the aspirational pull and ubiquity of getting featured nationally on IPL screens, fueled explosive organic adoption.

The Exclusive Positioning

By making itself an invite-only platform for premium cardholders, CRED successfully positioned itself as an exclusive privilege club right from the start—the premise of rewarding responsible credit behavior added to its discerning image.

Influencer Power

Getting celebrities, financial experts, and digital influencers on board amplified CRED’s aspirational appeal among millennials and Gen Z. The exclusive CRED club became a status symbol online.

Referral Rewards

Gamified referral schemes with CRED coin rewards for referrers and sign-ups created viral social proof. Users were incentivized to invite others to join the elite club.

Last words

Through an ingenious blend of exclusivity marketing, social proof tactics, and real-world viral campaigns, CRED has transformed mundane credit card bill payments into an elite privilege. CRED has rapidly emerged as India’s credit management platform for aspirationally connected consumers by psychologically rewarding responsible financial behavior and crafting a premium brand. Its creative formulas, balancing desirability and virality, provide a playbook for customer-centric brands pursuing rapid growth.