Heron Financial
A new breed of mortgage and insurance broker. Heron provide a human-first approach, backed by tech, to secure you the absolute best deal for your particular personal circumstances.
Overview
In an era of faceless online mortgage brokers and big corporate entities offering bog standard services, Heron Financial want to offer something different. Heron bridge the gap between human-centric services and digital convenience. They offer a more considered and caring approach to mortgages, backed up with innovative in-house technical solutions that they've developed themselves to make the customer experience a breeze. These guys will hold your hand when you need it and answer your panicked calls at 8pm. All whilst providing you with the digital tools to make your life so much easier. Their philosophy is simple: to exceed your expectations.
Services
Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning + Planning, Visual + Verbal Identity Design, Web Design + Development, UX + UI Design, Copywriting + Messaging, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Management, Content Creation, Campaign Creation + Design, Print + Digital Design, Photography, Illustration, Social Media Management.
The Challenge
- Young brand with little recognition and uncertain of how to clearly communicate their point of difference.
- Battling the rise of online mortgage brokers.
- Negative perceptions of mortgage brokers impacting customer uptake.
- Slow and clunky website with little value to prospective customers, leading to poor conversion rates and no user engagement.
Barefaced Solution
- The Heron re-brand demonstrated their aptitude and experience through bold visual language and confident copywriting. We created a call to arms that their customers and team could get behind, ‘our philosophy is simple: we’ll exceed your expectations’. This was then used as stepping stone for the rest of their customer messaging. We helped Heron identify their unique selling points, whilst avoiding cliched phrases and outdating jargon. Instead, we harnessed the power of proven results and went bold with our statements. For example, ‘we can save you money’ turned into ‘we’ll save you £1,000s’. Their new identity and messaging pierces through the noise, makes them instantly recognisable and turns Heron into a force to be reckoned with.
- In order to create a marked difference from their faceless online competition, we humanised the brand whilst putting a firm focus on their exemplary customer service. We did this through a mix of customer messaging and a visual identity that focuses on warmth rather than trends. Then we backed this all up with a ‘moving day’ themed photographic campaign using a diverse selection of real people as models. This helped Heron’s target audience identify with the brand, as they were able to see these images and think ‘that could be me!’.
- Heron was facing entrenched perceptions of what it meant to work with a broker. So we helped Heron enlighten their customers with a whole new experience of mortgages. An approachable, jargon free tone of voice has allowed Heron to speak to their audience as though they’re a good friend giving you sound advice. This, coupled with a visual language that speaks directly to their customers, meant we could distance Heron from harmful industry stereotypes. As a result Heron became a brand with the power to show their audience just how possible it is to have a broker who ticks all your boxes.
- We built a website that no only looks amazing but adds value to the customer’s visit and places a real importance on their user journey. Clear call-to-actions and great readability across the site result in a better clickthrough rate. This lead to a 42.82% increase in digital leads.
+132%
Increase in web traffic
+42.82%
Increase in digital leads
+41.56%
Increase in online brand search
+35.06%
Increase in returning customers
“We’ve worked with Barefaced for several years now and it’s fair to say that through our work with them we’ve transformed the way we work and how our Clients interface with us. Barefaced are an essential part of our business function and are not only a pleasure to work with but continue to add value with every interaction we have with them! Thank you Barefaced and we look forward to continuing our journey together!”
– Warren Harrocks, Director + Principal
Exceeding your expectations
Heron are considerate, caring and they go above and beyond. They’re hand holders in the best possible way. They’ll get to the nitty gritty of your very unique individual circumstances in order to find you a product that actually works. But they’re not old-fashioned. From having an entire progression team, so that their brokers can do what they’re best at, to launching innovative in-house technical solutions to make the customer experience a breeze. Heron embody the cross-junction of human-centric services and digital convenience. Moreover, in the world of mortgages everyone is saying the same damn thing. The phrases ‘we can access the whole of the market’ and ‘tailored mortgage advice’ run thin when you’ve read it a thousand times. So we needed to create a differentiating brand proposition in order for Heron to stand out and be heard.
We worked closely with the Heron team to define the company’s position within a competitive market. This resulted in a full re-brand with accompanying guidelines to ensure consistency across all touch points. The bones of the visual identity are bold and simplistic. A striking logo is pared with a rich colour palette. We chose a deep ‘financial’ blue to create an air of familiarity and trust, before disrupting the palette with an uplifting bright orange and a futuristic light grey. Rounded fonts and pale tonal colours were added to soften the aesthetic and inject warmth.
We then introduced a down-to-earth brand tone-of-voice and added playful photography and illustration. The result is an identity that manages to be both professional and approachable, rooted in traditional notions of excellence in service yet obviously forward-thinking. We built a bespoke website from scratch for Heron, with an emphasis on the user journey and experience of the site. As part of an ongoing partnership we’ve helped Heron bring their brand to life where ever it appears. This has included magazine ads, brochures, on-site branding, bags, pens and even tea bags! Just as importantly, every interaction with the brand propels their message of ‘exceeding expectations’ forwards. It’s become their company motto and driving force. From their service and culture, right though to their industry-defining customer experience.