Case Study: Cobra Sport Performance Exhausts

Brand development lifts Cobra Sport

Delivering brand lift for a well established aftermarket brand

Cobra Sport is a performance aftermarket exhaust brand with a long established presence in the European market. Lost in a ‘sea of sameness’ with little to differentiate them from competitors, Cobra Sport had ambitions to elevate their brand and become recognised as premium and aspirational. The challenge was to shift perception of Cobra Sport, while not changing the core identity.

The Challenge

Develop the existing brand to raise the profile and position Cobra Sport Performance Exhausts as an aspirational, high quality, premium brand. The product had been developed over numerous years to be extremely high quality but Cobra felt their brand was lagging behind and not reflecting the market position available to them.

Cobra Sport branding

Our Solution

Through intense market research and consumer surveys, we uncovered true customer sentiment and what was really important to their customers. This insight led us to adopt a new brand stance, develop a new mission and value proposition aligned to true customer desires. Altering core messages, and brand style, we developed new brand guidelines and repositioned Cobra Sport, quickly building their reputation as a premium brand. We were able to breathe life in to the stale brand, driving salience and significantly improving consideration and preference in the customer decision process.

To distinguish from very similar competitors in the market, we adopted a life-style approach, focusing on the emotional attachment of car enthusiasts with their vehicles and reflecting the positive emotions experienced when customers have their vehicles upgraded with a Cobra Sport exhaust. For product photography we emphasised the industrial nature of the product, also reflecting the company’s Sheffield heritage – the birthplace of stainless steel.

Brand Building

By focusing on the driver or vehicle owner and their emotional connection to their car, and how the exhaust system enhanced the drive characteristics, we were able to establish brand lift and differentiation through photography.

Brand development for Cobra Sport Performance Exhausts

What we did…

  • Brand research and competitive analysis
  • Brand development workshops and interviews with key stakeholders
  • Develop new brand strategy, repositioning Cobra Sport as more premium brand
  • Brand strategy and market segmentation reports
  • Developed new mission, vision and positioning statements
  • Redeveloped brand guidelines inline with new positioning
  • Content development – photography, video and copy
  • Website and digital channel upgrades
  • Groundwork to launch new motorbike exhaust range
  • Initial research and groundwork to launch the brand into the US market

What we achieved…

Through in-depth development of the Cobra Sport Performance Exhausts brand, we were able to successfully reposition the brand and elevate to a higher, premium position within the market. We established a new style, focused on showing the emotion delivered by using the product, rather than following the pack and showing product focused shots and performance cars. The implementation of a more lifestyle focused brand (a very different approach for this market category) allowed us to focus on premium and push brand associations and perception into a higher market positioning for Cobra Sport.

  • Adoption of premium positioning within market segment
  • 10 – 15% price increase across entire product range (over and above inflation and price rises due to market factors) – without loss of sales volume
  • Established Cobra Sport as a premium exhaust brand in UK market
  • Increased social media following and engagement
  • Driven significant differentiation within market segment
  • Delivered brand lift for Cobra Sport, positioning them within top two performance exhaust brands in the UK market
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Contact us on:
UK: +44 (0) 1604 264 663
US: 001 248-817-8848