A 2019 techUK study revealed that a major barrier to blockchain adoption has been a lack of understanding and mistrust of the technology by businesses. C-level decision-makers are often reluctant to invest in blockchain because of fear of damage to their reputation and lack of awareness of the applications of blockchain beyond cryptocurrency.

Days before the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown, Qadre, the company behind the first UK government-approved blockchain, appointed CCgroup to launch its new equity management application, QCap.

Challenge

Qadre needed to do three things:

  1. Launch QCap and drive awareness among its target buyers – fintech founders
  2. Generate marketing qualified leads at a time when the world, and the startup community, was in crisis
  3. Raise the curtain on Qadre as the blockchain company modernising financial markets and solving business problems – starting with equity management

The early weeks of lockdown had brought chaos to founders who were suddenly facing difficult questions from investors, auditing potential risk and, mainly, struggling to cut operational costs. Qadre needed a campaign that would credibly address the market context, provide value to struggling founders while creating urgency around the challenges with equity management.

Creative

CCgroup suggested an insight-led content campaign based on interviews with 50 fintech founders which would expose 1) how far ineffective equity management had impacted business growth and 2) the impact of COVID-19 on fundraising.

The research revealed that fintech businesses had lost £2.6bn in missed funding due to equity management issues and an estimated £1.9bn had been lost across the industry due to the crisis. CCgroup recommended partnering with techUK, inviting their CEO to contribute to the report, bolstering the credibility of the findings and boosting the reach of the campaign through their joint promotion.

The story tapped into a surge of media interest into the state of UK fintech amid Covid-19 and positioned equity management as a meaningful response for businesses looking to mitigate their business from the economic impact of the crisis.

Given the industry challenges facing blockchain-based businesses, CCgroup also suggested positioning the company’s rebrand with the aim of demystifying blockchain and drive increased understanding and practical applications of the technology in financial markets.

Consequence

The campaign surpassed Qadre’s business and communications objectives:

  • The announcement drove 40+ pieces of coverage, including 5 top tier trade publications – Cointelegraph, UKTN, Finextra, FSTech and Computer Weekly
  • The media coverage featured 40 backlinks to Qadre’s website, spanned an online readership of 9M+ and was shared on social 182 times
  • Distributed only via earned media, the report was downloaded by more than 50 contacts in the first week, delivering more than 30

 

 

BACK TO TOP