Intro to CEPs – What are They and Why They Matter

Intro to CEPs – What are They and Why They Matter

In a cluttered marketplace, consumers don’t buy brands—they buy solutions to specific problems, in specific contexts, with specific motivations. Category Entry Points (CEPs) offer a powerful framework to capture attention and drive growth by ensuring brands are mentally available at the right moment. 

What Are Category Entry Points (CEPs)?

Category Entry Points are the cues—situational, emotional, or contextual—that prompt a consumer to think about a category, and eventually decide what brand to buy.

The concept was first popularized by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, led by Professor Byron Sharp, in their work on mental availability—the ease with which a brand comes to mind in buying situations.

CEPs answer:

When does the consumer think about the category?

Why are they thinking about it?

What is the underlying motivation, emotion, or occasion?

Unlike demographic or psychographic segmentation, CEPs focus on buying contexts—the real-world moments that drive consumer action.

Examples include:

• Occasions: "I need a quick breakfast"
• Motivations: "I want to reward myself"
• Emotions: "I’m feeling stressed"
• Needs: "I’m running low on protein"
• Locations or times: "Late night snacks"

For instance, in the energy drink category, a CEP like “needing a jolt before a gaming session” triggers young consumers to recall brands like Sting or Campa Energy. Understanding these moments allows brands to position themselves as the instinctive choice.

Why CEPs Matter

Most brand strategy focuses on what the brand wants to say.

CEPs flip that perspective to ask:

“What is happening in the consumer’s life when they enter this category—and are we the brand they think of at that moment?”

• Why do people enter the tea category at 4 PM?
• Why does the cold beverage category spike after cricket matches?
• Why does "guilt-free indulgence" lead people to choose dark chocolate?

These questions uncover real growth opportunities. CEPs shift the focus from broad targeting to precise, context-driven relevance, ensuring brands are top-of-mind when decisions are made.

That’s the battleground for mental availability and long-term brand growth.

There’s a silent gap in how consumers and brands view the category. While brands obsess over formulations, variants, and differentiation, consumers think in episodic moments: “I need to freshen up,” “My face feels oily,” or “It’s date night.” This information asymmetry—where marketers know far more about the category than consumers do—creates a strategic challenge.

What It Means

Marketers think in terms of reasons-to-believe (RTBs), ingredient lists, formats, and competitive differentiation. Consumers, however, decide at the situation level, driven by immediate needs or emotions. For example, they might recall “the green one after my workout” rather than “Garnier OilClear.” This disconnect means brands risk optimizing at the brand level while consumers operate at the moment level.

The Risk

If marketing doesn’t reflect how consumers enter the category, brands may:

• Build salience in the wrong context.
• Be mentally unavailable when the purchase moment arises.
• Lose to simpler, more CEP-aligned brands, even if they’re technically inferior.

Why It’s a Valid Strategic Insight

1. Consumers Don’t Know the Whole Category Landscape: They don’t know your full range or the science behind your claims. They judge by moment fit, not feature fit.
2. Consumers Remember Situations, Not Sub-brands: Mental availability in specific moments trumps product superiority.
3. Brands Overestimate Differentiation: Many compete on functional attributes consumers barely notice, while few own CEPs emotionally and consistently (e.g., “night skin reset” or “post-sweat clean-up”).

Implication for a CEP-Led Strategy

This asymmetry demands a shift from “What do we want to say?” to “What do they think/feel in that moment?” CEP-led thinking is the antidote, aligning brands with the situations that drive consumer decisions.