Deluxe – SCHERMER

A 100-year-old, new FinTech company redefines its relevance

How do you leave behind a legacy that’s no longer relevant?

Nearly anyone who’s written a check knows the name Deluxe. Which is the problem – fewer people are using checks. Deluxe had worked steadily over the past several years to expand its financial offerings beyond checks with a new portfolio of technologies and services for financial institutions – many of which were built or acquired as stand-alone products. We were asked to help make their brand, product portfolio and marketing relevant to and ready for today’s financial customers.

Breathing life(cycle) into a product portfolio

To overcome existing perceptions, we had to understand them. We led competitive research and interviewed stakeholders, customers, and industry analysts to glean insights and opportunities. We found that people knew and trusted Deluxe with their customer data – they just didn’t know Deluxe offered a new, expanded portfolio of FinTech products and services.

We positioned Deluxe Financial Services as an integrated FinTech portfolio that spanned the entire customer lifecycle management of financial institutions, broken down into four easy-to-see-and-sell categories: Acquire. Onboard. Engage. Operate.

Redefining future relevance by reflecting on past relationships

Building upon 100 years of Deluxe brand equity, we retooled the brand to make it relevant and contemporary. First, we developed a brand personality and tone of voice that captured Deluxe’s working relationship with its clients. Collaborative and trustworthy. Inventive and practical. Expert and confident. But never the ‘know-it-all’. We crystallized this into their new key brand message: “Deluxe helps financial institutions turn relationships into revenue.”

Visually, we brought this to life with an identity system based on the Deluxe “D”. We called this new identity “The Connection Stream” because it characterized the inter-connected relationship between the people, products, technology and services that all work in harmony to manage customer data and move customer relationships forward.

Reenergized for the journey ahead

We rolled the new brand strategy, messaging and identity out across all areas of the division, from tradeshows to the Deluxe Exchange conference, signage and website, leading UI design and content strategy.

The homepage headline perfectly introduced their new brand: “Deluxe helps you add value through every step of the customer journey.” And we helped them introduce renewed relevance through every experience with their new brand. Deluxe is now ready to create revenue and relationships for the next 100 years.