A feature of the suite’s approach to homelessness was the intention to develop a range of products alongside the initial Homelessness Reduction solution. Consequently, the first step was to develop an overarching brand and brand strategy to support the complete Housing Jigsaw portfolio, which expanded to included MRI Alert – a Duty to Refer module, MRI Allocations, MRI Accommodation Rent Accounting, and MRI Rough Sleeper Pathways.
Next came the need to tackle the question of how to launch into a new sector. We set to work identifying a number of unique selling points (USPs) on which we would focus our launch strategy, namely:
- The influence that supporting practitioners had in the sector
- The fact that the workflow had been validated by a leading homelessness barrister
- The client’s credentials in the social housing arena (through HomeSwapper)
With these USPs in mind, our team developed a website to support the brand in the pre-launch phase. The site initially focused on ongoing product development as part of an information campaign, releasing news and features.
At the same time, homelessness teams in all LAs across England were contacted via a direct email campaign to raise awareness and drive them to the website. Social media channels were set up and awareness building campaigns were launched in order to build anticipation.
In the pre-launch quarter, webinars, training sessions and face-to-face events were run to disseminate best practice when working within the HRA, while revealing and demonstrating key features of the system to reinforce its USPs.
The launch of the system did not come without its challenges. Key points that needed to be addressed and overcome within our launch strategy were that:
- The product was at the premium end of the price scale in comparison to all other competitors
- A number of competitors already had systems active within LAs into which their HRA product could be simply integrated