Growth, success, create opportunity. But they also can bring challenge. We have seen a number of businesses struggle with the speed of their own growth. Sharesies however had foresight, as they moved from start-up to grow-up mode (as we call it) they had identified they needed to strengthen their brand to support their next phase of growth. They wanted to elevate their current brand to make sure it was future focussed, could connect with customers in this new phase of growth, and they wanted to align their team around a clear and articulate point of view, to allow them to highlight their difference in market.
Ocean’s inside / out brand methodology is centred around defining purpose. Many organisations desperate to justify their own existence, try and ‘invent’ a sense of purpose. For Sharesies though, a clear purpose was the catalyst for their foundation and resonates throughout the company: they believe that everyone deserves to grow their wealth. What was missing was a clear and consistent articulation of this intent. Through insight gathering we defined a brand strategy, and created a brand idea, Share the Love, which helped unlock the brand and to make it even more accessible. We then crafted a brand story that helps new staff understand why Sharesies exists. We evolved their current look to reach a broader audience, and came with a new clear ‘pineapple' device which was an evolution of the fruit salad that Sharesies had been using from when they started. Supporting this we then designed a framework for Sharesies to be able to create future work from, such as events, team engagement, and ways they might activate the brand in future. It’s important to note that this was a truly collaborative effort with the very cool and talented Sharesies team.
“The Ocean team produce amazing work. They live and breath brand, and have fantastic strategic insights into how a company brand can elevate messaging and purpose. I recommend them highly!”
Alan Doak, Marketing Manager, Sharesies
Simply, greater clarity and confidence. When we started the brand work with Sharesies they had 12,000 customers and $11 million under management. In the 18 months since the rebrand, customers numbers have grown to over 99,000 with $173 million now under management. Trade Me have invested in the business. They have picked up design awards for their user experience, and business awards that recognise the impact they are making. Most importantly Sharesies are well on their way to democratising investment. They are succeeding in empowering a new generation of investors to have the confidence to start investing and by giving them the control to ‘do it themselves'. For as Sharesies say, no matter your worth, you’re worth it.
