Rebranding a “socially responsible” finance start-up

Ragged Edge has created a “playful” new visual and verbal identity for Salary Finance, a start-up co-founded by the former of head of Google UK and Ireland, Dan Cobley.

Salary Finance was established in 2015 by Cobley along with co-founders Daniel Shakhani and Asesh Sarkar, who is also the company’s CEO.

The business works with employers to offer their employees a range of financial benefits that are paid directly out of their salary, as well as offering free information on topics such as pensions and mortgages.

According to Salary Finance, if an employee takes out a £3,100 loan for example, it can help them save £600 on their interest payments. In 2016, the company was named by Forbes as one of the five most exciting “socially responsible” start-ups in the UK.

Ragged Edge was briefed to create a new brand strategy and identity for Salary Finance that would help to “define their purpose” internally, externally and internationally, as it expands into the US, says the consultancy’s founder Max Ottignon.

“We recognised that money shouldn’t be a cause of worry. It should build self-esteem, enable possibility, and free people up for a more hopeful and sustainable future. The brand needed to retain some challenger spirit, while confidently navigating an industry of financial institutions and payday lenders,” Ottignon adds.

The new identity aims to look “playful”, says Ragged Edge, featuring a logotype that is set on an upward curve to look like a subtle smile.

The logo is accompanied by a “warm” colour palette of salmon pink, light pink and dark blue, and photography of “positive” hand gestures such as thumbs-up, adds the consultancy.

The new identity has rolled out across all physical and digital touchpoints.