Case study – BRAND – Ancestry
Identifying brand differentiation for Ancestry
As Ancestry prepared to launch in three new markets, the business needed to understand how to stand out in a category where several providers offer similar products.
The challenge: Standing out at the right moment
Differentiation was not something Ancestry needed to solve once. It needed to work at several distinct moments: the point where someone first notices the brand, the point where they weigh it against alternatives, and the point where they decide to stay once they have signed up. Ancestry wanted to understand how to differentiate at each stage of the customer journey, across markets at different stages of maturity.
What we did: We listened for language as much as meaning
We combined desk research with online depth interviews and focus groups across established, emerging and new markets. Rather than only asking what people thought of the category, we paid close attention to how they talked about it, since tone and phrasing often carry as much meaning as the message itself. This iterative approach allowed early findings from one market to shape the questions asked in the next.
What we found: Local nuance sits alongside shared threads
Motivations and preferred tone varied meaningfully by market, shaped by how established the category already was in each place. Alongside these differences, a set of universal threads ran through every market, pointing to where Ancestry could differentiate in ways that would travel well while still feeling locally authentic.
The impact: Confidence to enter new markets
Ancestry came away with more than a set of findings. The research gave the business a practical map for how to differentiate at each stage of the funnel, and the confidence to know not only what to say in each new market, but when and how to say it, from first awareness through to long term loyalty.
“Magenta displayed an impressive ability to distil vast amounts of market, cultural and brand insight into an easy to understand and apply output, through incredible creativity in our workshops and a mix of traditional and unexpected methods that ensured we always had the key takeouts in an easy to digest format.”
VP of International Marketing, Ancestry
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