Swift is a global co-operative with 4000 employees worldwide. It is fundamental to the global economy. Research showed they were perceived as slow and old fashioned and were facing a raft of new competitors.

They wanted our help to refresh their brand identity so that they could be seen as a modern innovative brand.

Through a hybrid team agency/client team we worked with Swift to overhaul their identity (for the first time since 1973!) upgrading every aspect of the customer and employee experience: ATL advertising, digital channels, events, office environments, HR initiatives etc.

Our main objectives being;

• To maintain a connection with what went before, retaining the value in their 50 years experience

• To present Swift as an approachable, modern-day financial expert

• To create a brand that is digital-first, meaning that every element of the system would help Swift create world class customer experiences

The primary audience was the global financial community including 11,000 banks and millions of financial professionals from large corporations that use Swift services. The secondary audience is anyone, globally, that transfers money across borders.

We started by creating a clear mission; 'empowering the financial community

to create an inclusive digital economy'. We explained that to empower the financial community they needed to build strong relationships with people. This meant losing the tie and changing perceptions of the brand to be seen as a modern-day financial expert.

Underscoring every aspect of our identity approach, were our 3 guiding principles:

- More open

- More human

- More inspiring

Using the guiding principles and led by our mission, we needed to demonstrate Swift's global reach, to bring to life the capabilities of Swift as an organisation and its technologies, and to promote Swift as a commercial partner.

Every execution has been steered by our guiding principles and mission.

At the heart of the new system is a series of CGI’s that visualise the invisible – the Swift platform. This living canvas includes a translucent surface that shapes emerge from allowing us to convey different themes; from security to collaboration.

This is complemented with a new suite of identity assets – The typography choice and icon suite were driven by a desire to communicate clearly and openly, the colour palette communicates Swift’s neutrality in an otherwise highly competitive sector, and a new photo library expresses Swift’s mission to create a more inclusive digital economy.

A new of Tone of Voice that is "Open, Friendly and Positive" communicates to a multinational audience with laser-focused messaging, in an accessible and optimistic tone.

Whilst our environmental design facilitates flow (open), give the staff energy (inspiring) and works for staff needs (human).

- Brand impressions from media campaigns saw an increase of +393% from 2018 vs 2022

- An employee survey saw dramatic improvements in pride of the brand in 2021 vs 2019:

"Swift is highly regarded by its external customers" increased from -9 > +5

"Swift has a good reputation for the quality of its services" increased from -2 > +3

- A qualitative customer survey ran by Hotjar found that in 2018 identified the brand's biggest weakness was being perceived as "not innovative". The 2022 survey taken after the launch showed that 64% of customers now consider the brand to be innovative. With 67% of respondents feeling positively about the advertising they'd seen

- The estimated reach of the media campaign has on average a reach of 50M - this shot to 231.7M during the month of the launch