Prospa
From disruptor to innovative leader
Prospa is Australia’s largest online small business lender. After a decade as a challenger to the banks in the lending space, they were gearing up to expand their product offering. In late 2022 they added a smart business transaction account with overdraft to their line-up of fast-approval loans and line of credit. It marked a shift away from a conversions-focused culture to one based on ongoing customer relationships. To reflect this change, they needed a new look and feel. And a voice to match.
Shifting from a pure sales focus
Cash flow is the biggest single pain point for most small businesses. In a sector that spans big banks to payday lenders, Prospa wanted to be there for the long haul, not the quick sell. The way they spoke to customers would have a big part to play, so they asked for our help. The task was pretty clear. Smooth sales talk and tactics had to go. It was now about building trust with transparency and direct, helpful communications. We just needed to work out how to do it.
Being straight up, keeping it human
We kicked off with a discovery phase that included an existing comms review, workshops and lots of colloboration. The voice we developed, Straight-Up Human, became Prospa’s new brand voice, and we delivered a practical guideline segmented by audience. To ensure the new voice was properly embedded, we got to work training Prospa’s team and getting on the tools ourselves. We rewrote key brand communications including their primary web pages, along with a product naming strategy, messaging matrix and 50 customer eDM templates.
A voice to match a grown-up brand
Throughout the transition, Prospa’s whole team began thinking in terms of customer relationships, not just conversions. Language was critical to this change, and we helped Prospa’s team articulate the cultural shift internally. In the lead up to launch, we worked with writers across the business, and in external agencies, in a series of weekly creative reviews to ensure all new work was in the new voice. So by the time the updated brand launched, Prospa sounded every bit like the small business finance innovator it had become.
“A huge thank you to you and your team – Simon, Nick and the two K’s! We loved working with you all and are incredibly proud of where we’ve landed. Thank you so much for coming on this journey with us, making it so easy to work with you and producing a great result!”
