Credit Key Helps Merchants and Borrowers Unlock the Future With New Brand Identity
A lively, cohesive identity boosts market share and positions payment technology company as a catalyst for growth.
Overview
Credit Key provides real-time, in-cart B2B lending for e-commerce. Its buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution is seamlessly integrated at checkout, simplifying every aspect of the payment process.
But while Credit Key offered leading-edge business payment solutions, its lack of brand awareness left the company struggling to stand out in the marketplace and among its core audiences — merchants and borrowers.
To strengthen the brand’s positioning and bolster its reputation, Walker Sands infused Credit Key’s visual and verbal identity with personality and created brand guidelines for consistent application.
The Challenge
Launched in 2017, Credit Key came to Walker Sands with an unsophisticated brand that needed to be taken to the next level. A mixture of stock photography with colorful vector illustrations and icons made Credit Key’s visual identity inconsistent and undifferentiated. Additionally, Credit Key faced growing competition from B2C providers who were moving into the B2B space and capitalizing on existing market share.
Overall, Credit Key’s brand strategy was missing the ownable, human elements required to elevate its sophistication and solidify its standing as the provider for business payments.
The Solution
Our Brand team set out to increase Credit Key’s brand awareness and market value by building a dynamic, active brand that would differentiate the company from its competitors.
With brand personality traits of devoted, inquisitive, clever and ambitious, the team’s updated strategy showcased Credit Key’s human identity as a supportive specialist with instantaneous growth payment technology.
After developing the new strategic foundation for the Credit Key brand, we created persona-based messaging frameworks that speak directly to merchants and borrowers, putting them in control.
Next, we breathed life into Credit Key’s visual identity by creating a standout color palette, ownable sticker style, logo-inspired patterns and customer-centric photography with bold applications. Leveraging a sleek and streamlined look and feel, we were able to create better visual cohesion for the brand, while achieving the perfect balance between playful and professional design.
When crafting the verbal identity, it was important to avoid a traditional or overly formal voice and tone that many financial institutions replicate. Instead, we wanted to shine a light on Credit Key’s innovative spirit and customer-focused journey, writing adept and straightforward copy that empowers merchants and borrowers to take action.
By focusing on Credit Key’s primary benefit of accelerated business growth, we were able to develop messaging that is future-forward and spotlights customer success stories.
The Results
Credit Key’s new customer-focused positioning resulted in cohesive messaging and segmentation points for each audience, making it easier for merchants and borrowers to understand Credit Key’s value in supporting mutual growth between businesses.
The new visual and verbal identity sets Credit Key apart from competitors, providing a crucial opportunity to earn improve brand awareness and capture market share as the provider for business payments.
Our work was also well received by the Credit Key team, with Matt Osborn, marketing director at Credit Key, sharing, “This rebrand was EPIC!”
