Research, strategy, branding and web design

Project Title
The human, anti-acronym and approachable Open Banking brand in a tech- and jargon- saturated industry.
Client
Archie
Category
Research, Strategy, Naming, Branding, UX & UI, Marketing

“We’re in a very competitive market, and they’ve provided us with a great strategy to penetrate it.”

Co-Founder

Fintech Branding

Fintech Branding

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QUESTION

Concept Store

How can we stand out in a competitive market, dominated by a select few brands with millions in funding, to realise our mission of making Open Banking more widespread and accessible?

When the team came to us, they were undeniably passionate and excited at the prospect of launching a new rival in the competitive Open Banking market, but adamant on solidifying a distinct positioning so that they could truly stand out. In our Creative Day, not a single person in the room other than them understood what Open Banking or its benefits were, despite having done research and reading a bunch of articles. Herein lay our opportunity.

Realising the rampant uncertainty around Open Banking amongst people (when we asked around, some thought it was when banks were open 24/7), we knew we had to do some of our own research to truly delve into the mindsets of not just prospective business customers, but end consumers. Following six in-depth interviews with senior stakeholders in financial and retail institutions, and an online consumer survey that spoke to 434 UK residents, we learnt even more than we were expecting to.

Fintech Branding

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CHANGE

Concept Store

Following the eye-opening insights from our primary research, we developed a robust, authentic and evidence-backed strategy and brand positioning to launch this startup to market. We realised that first and foremost, we needed to eradicate skepticism around Open Banking and its benefits (because our research found that 78% don’t know what it is, and 48% felt uncertain even after we’d explained what it was) if we were to aim for industry and society-wide progress.

Our client’s belief is that rather than banks working in silo and gatekeeping people’s financial data, people should be empowered to leverage and share it in return for discounts, personalised offers and more. The benefits are two-way, so it’s a win-win for consumers and businesses alike. We needed to convey this message without using jargon and acronyms, but also without condescending – so our tone of voice became friendly and human, to work towards achieving financial freedom for all.

Each time we doodled what Open Banking was, we found ourselves connecting merchants, banks and customers with arches, which became the inspiration behind our name. We added an ‘ie’ at the end to personify it and imbue our human characteristics while also representing our strategy to Establish, Educate, Empower, Investigate, Integrate and Innovate.

The brand was brought to life through visual and verbal identities that felt approachable yet bold, human yet innovative, and trustworthy yet cheeky. The colours, Luminator Lime, Empowering Espresso, Progressive Pebble and Freeing Fuschia were selected to represent our confidence in standing out and doing something different. Animations illuminate the path ahead through a ‘Hi Line’ squiggle, which shows movement and progress, and human imagery was selected to feel more down to earth and approachable.

We were then entrusted with implementing the new brand, which consisted of UX and UI design, social media and marketing strategy, copywriting, animation and more!