Why strong brands focus on Category Entry Points

Building strong mental availability

Strategy

22.05.2025

Your audience doesn’t consciously choose brands. They make choices the moment a need arises. Picture this: you’re walking through a supermarket, browsing a webshop, or mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. That’s when a need pops up. Not for your brand, but for a product category. What’s going through their mind? “I want something easy for dinner,” “A gift for a friend,” “A moment of peace for myself.”

Those are the moments when brands are either remembered or forgotten. The brand that springs to mind first wins. Not necessarily the best, most sustainable, or cheapest option — but the one that’s there, at just the right time.

If you really want to build brand preference, you need to understand when your audience thinks about your category — and link your brand to those moments. That’s exactly what Category Entry Points (CEPs) are all about.

In this article, you'll learn:

  • What Category Entry Points (CEPs) are;
  • Why they’re essential for modern brand strategy;
  • The role of neuromarketing and storytelling in CEPs;
  • How to structurally build strong mental availability for your brand - a fixed spot in the mind of your target audience.

What are Category Entry Points?

First things first: situations or contexts in which a need for a product category arises are called Category Entry Points (CEPs). They are the familiar, recognisable moments when your audience starts looking for a solution — and hopefully thinks of your brand. Unlike propositions, brand values, or USPs like “sustainable” or “affordable,” CEPs are motivational moments: “When and why do I think about this category?”

Think of moments like “I need a tasty snack for the road” or “I want to impress on a date.” These are concrete, recognisable human triggers that come before a purchase decision. The goal is for your brand to be recalled the moment the need arises — not just when someone’s standing in front of the shelf or searching online.

A brand essentially works as a network of associations in our brains. The more often, consistently, and recognisably your brand is linked to relevant CEPs, the greater your mental availability — and with it, the likelihood of being chosen.

Strong examples of Category Entry Points:

  • “On my way to work”
  • “As a Friday night treat”
  • “To share with friends”
  • “When I’m in a rush but want something healthy”

Common misconceptions (that are not CEPs):

  • “Sustainable”
  • “Reliable”
  • “Affordable”
  • “For busy people”

These sound attractive in a brand strategy, but they’re too abstract. Our brains don’t think in values — they think in moments and situations. That’s why CEPs should be rooted in moments of motivation, not brand values or product features.

Why are CEPs crucial for building brand preference?

Mental availability is one of the strongest predictors of brand growth and market share. As marketing professor Byron Sharp notes in How Brands Grow: “Brands grow not by loyalty, but by being chosen more often in more situations.”

By systematically linking your brand to multiple CEPs, you increase the chances of being remembered at the right time. It shifts your presence from “occasional visibility” to “consistent mental availability.” Not just functionally, but emotionally: “That brand fits me in that moment.” The more often your brand is connected to recognisable, recurring situations, the more likely it is to be chosen.

Take Tony’s Chocolonely, for example.

It’s known not just for “slave-free chocolate,” but also for:

  • “A gift to show appreciation”
  • “A treat with coffee and friends”
  • “A guilty pleasure on a Friday night”

By dominating multiple CEPs, Tony’s has built strong mental availability. Meanwhile, competitors are still talking about “great taste” or “affordable pricing.”

What happens if you ignore CEPs?

If you (consciously or not) fail to link your brand to relevant buying moments, you’ll have to work harder to be noticed. Your marketing becomes reliant on paid reach or discounts — with limited long-term impact. And yet brand preference is precisely what builds over the long term and needs to be nurtured.

Without linking your brand to the right CEPs:

  • Your brand lacks real-life context;
  • Campaigns become isolated messages without behavioural connection;
  • You lose out on recognition and relevance, directly affecting market share.

Your brand becomes less future-proof. While strong brands are chosen automatically — even without consumers remembering why — your brand will need more media spend, more messaging, and more effort just to stay visible.

"Sound familiar? Many brands make the same mistakes. Here are the biggest pitfalls when it comes to Category Entry Points:"

  • Using non-CEPs as CEPs
    Words like “innovative” or “trustworthy” are features, not contexts. “For during DIY projects” is a CEP.
  • Focusing on only one CEP
    Don’t limit your brand to just one moment. It might be “for on-the-go,” but also “for after the gym” or “for a date.”
  • Cramming too many CEPs into one campaign
    The human brain can only absorb one cue at a time. Not: “for commuting, with friends, and for breakfast” in one ad.
  • Thinking from the brand perspective instead of the customer’s
    Study real behaviour and contexts first. Then bring your brand strategy into the picture — not the other way around.

The role of neuromarketing & storytelling in CEPs

Our brains work through association. Through repetition. Emotion. And above all: simplicity. In neuromarketing, we talk about “Cue > Reward” — a contextual trigger leading to a reward like a feeling, sense of relief, or a solution.

CEPs act as those triggers. And the brand connection must be fast and effortless. That only happens when your brand story is clear, believable, and tangible. Storytelling fuels CEPs — giving them emotion, colour, and human relevance.

Example: A healthy snack brand tells the story of a busy workday, a gym session, and that intense hunger on the way home. Instantly recognisable! Now “after a workout” becomes a branded moment — one context, one message, and it sticks.

Long-term impact of a strong CEP strategy

By investing in CEPs, you don’t just grow brand awareness — you build robust mental availability. A brand present in multiple buying moments is harder to replace, more often chosen, and more frequently recommended.

Without a CEP strategy, your brand relies on disconnected campaigns reacting to trends — gaining short-term attention but no lasting memory. Brands that build a well-thought-out CEP approach, on the other hand, create durable brand equity. They return in the minds of the audience at the right time, again and again. That sense of familiarity is what fuels long-term growth.

How Redkiwi strategically positions your brand

At Redkiwi, we believe in brands that work. Not just beautifully designed, but strategically sharp. Brands that stay relevant and recognisable — showing up in the minds of the audience when it truly matters. CEPs are key to that.

Together, we uncover the moments when your audience thinks about your category. We analyse existing brand associations and map short- and long-term opportunities. Then we translate that into distinctive storytelling, visual identity, and memorable campaigns.

We blend strategy, creativity, and activation — not dusty frameworks or slide decks gathering dust. Instead: actionable insights and tools for brands that want to matter in everyday life. Whether you're a challenger or a market leader — we make sure you’re not just seen, but remembered when it counts. We help build brands that people want to remember.

What we offer:

  • Identifying relevant CEPs via audience insights and market/competitor analysis;
  • Connecting your brand to recognisable contexts with credible, human brand stories;
  • Creating campaigns and content that stick — reaching the right people at the right time.

Prefer to get started yourself?

Want to dive into CEP thinking on your own? Here are 5 practical tips to get going:

  • Research your audience’s buying situations
    Talk to customers or colleagues. Don’t ask why they buy — ask when and in what situation they think about your category (and maybe your brand).
    Example: “On the way to work,” “after exercising,” or “during a night with friends.”
  • Map out 5–10 concrete CEPs
    Translate those into relatable contexts — think time, place, mood, or company.
    Example: “On holiday,” “when it rains,” or “when I’m in a rush.”
  • Analyse your brand – and your competitors’
    Which CEPs are you already claiming in your comms? Are they credible? And which contexts are already dominated by competitors?
    Example: If the market leader owns “celebration moments”, you could focus on “everyday treats”.
  • Focus on one CEP per campaign
    Less is more. Communicate just one context, one trigger, one reward per ad. That’s how our brains work best.
    Example: “For your morning commute” – with a visual that makes that scenario instantly relatable.
  • Test and track your mental availability
    Put your CEPs in front of consumers and ask: “Which brand comes to mind here?” That tells you whether you’re top-of-mind in that moment.
    Example: Show the context “healthy snack after the gym” and see if people spontaneously name your brand.

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