The UK’s dedicated financial services review site, Smart Money People, has unveiled vibrant new branding to provide a more energised and youthful appeal. By creating this new memorable visual identity, it aims to reach a wider audience and in turn, help more people make better decisions with their money.
Smart Money People was founded in 2014 to give consumers an online platform to share feedback on the products and services of financial companies. These include banks, building societies, insurers, and credit providers. The business has since grown considerably, now with over 1.2m reviews, across the full range of financial services. These insights, comments, and experiences not only inform more people to make better decisions but also help financial services companies provide a better service and products to their customers.
A new look and feel
Working with global communications and branding agency, Teamspirit, Smart Money People’s new colour palette is the antithesis of what might be expected from a financial brand: a range of modern greens bring positivity, supported with vibrant accents in hot pinks, clean teals, and deep blues, to ensure an impactful look and feel.
The new logo is a simple, yet striking wordmark that reflects the site’s aim of offering clarity in a complex world. The three circles represent the many reviews that make up its powerful insights. By linking the n of money to the l of people, Smart Money People is celebrating how its insights make a connection between money and people.
The company reflected that its success is underpinned by those who leave reviews to help others and therefore wanted this human capacity to be incorporated into the new visuals.
For this reason, Quicksand was selected as its new typeface. Straightforward and unpretentious, it reflects both the company’s insightful yet down-to-earth approach, and also that of its reviewers. It also offers strong design possibilities in both print and digital.
Collective wisdom
Smart Money People also wanted to visually represent how the collective wisdom of the many individual reviews amounts to a larger, dynamic force, shaping the future of financial services.
It has called this concept its ‘smart cloud’.
Like a murmuration of starlings, this smart cloud is made up of many individual spheres – signifying its community of reviewers – that work together to better inform the decisions of consumers and businesses.
In future, these smart clouds will be a distinctive thread running through the company’s visual communications. They will be shaped to represent its wealth of knowledge that can help support and steer financial decision-making. For example, they may appear as a path leading through complexity, as steps helping someone improve their finances, or as a protective ‘bubble’ surrounding a family.
Award sub-brands
Cornerstones of the financial service industry’s calendar, Smart Money People’s three awards are the British Bank Awards, the Consumer Credit Awards and the Insurance Choice Awards. All have been integrated into the company’s main website to better recognise their place in the greater Smart Money People family.
They have all been given their own distinct colour scheme, but will however adopt the same stylistic principles of the main brand.
Smart Money People CEO, Jacqueline Dewey said:
“In recent years we’ve grown significantly, extended the services we offer, and are helping a greater number of individuals and businesses. The timing of our rebrand feels perfect as our new look and feel really reflects the business we are today.
“As well as cementing our place in the minds of existing users, our new visual identity will help us reach new, untapped audiences of those who want to make more informed financial decisions. By creating a more impactful brand, we hope to reach those for whom selecting a new credit card provider or mortgage lender is simply a means to an end.
“Now more than ever, people need reliable, trustworthy, and timely information about financial services. This rebrand demonstrates that we are investing in the future of our business to be that vital source of knowledge.”
Richard Germain, Creative Director at Teamspirit said:
“Working with Smart Money People to create their new brand has been a really collaborative process. Ideas have flowed from both sides of the client/agency partnership. It definitely shows in the vibrancy and sparkle of the new identity. It’s been great to give Smart Money People some smart new clothes.”
About Smart Money People
Smart Money People is the UK’s dedicated financial services review website, committed to improving financial standards for everyone through trust, knowledge, accountability, and the power of community.
Launched in 2014, Smart Money People has collected over 1.2m reviews on products and services from financial companies including banks, building societies, insurers and credit providers. These insights, comments, and experiences not only inform more people but also help financial services companies provide a better service to their customers.
Smart Money People also runs the British Bank Awards, Insurance Choice Awards and Consumer Credit Awards.
