The Brief & Strategy
Evolving to Meet an Expanded Mission
Founded in 2004, the Center for Financial Services Innovation spent its early years partnering with banks to serve people left behind by the financial system. But as its mission expanded to a broader focus on financial health, its identity no longer fit. The nonprofit adopted a new name to reflect its work – the Financial Health Network – and turned to Statement to build a brand to match.
Statement was already deeply embedded in the organization’s brand, first serving as the branding and recruitment partner for its EMERGE conference and later expanding the partnership to support organization-wide communications. We knew that the identity needed to showcase the Financial Health Network’s new role: a sophisticated organization forging high-impact partnerships across sectors to improve financial health for millions. Statement created a brand that captured its work as a collaborator and innovator, then built a flexible design and messaging system to support the nonprofit’s next era.
Visual Identity
Conveying an Energetic Movement
The Financial Health Network is a multilayered organization, with many initiatives and sub-brands that had developed organically over the years. Statement sought to create a unified philosophy across all of its sub-brands – equipping the nonprofit to bring consistency and polish to every touchpoint.
A new logo inspired by ideas of innovation, collaboration, and momentum set the tone for the visual rebrand. We combined four arrows, representing the organization’s key service pillars, in a single energetic icon. The resulting shape has a sense of outward movement in all directions, conveying the Financial Health Network’s efforts to expand into new sectors to solve multifaceted challenges. The energy of the icon also evokes a spark of innovation, while the negative space forms a health symbol.
For the Financial Health Network’s design system, we prioritized flexibility and simplicity to make using the brand easier for internal and external teams. Key updates included:
- Streamlining the existing color palette and assigning specific colors to key business lines to create an intuitive system
- Introducing a secondary typeface with good legibility for digital and print applications
- Developing a graphic approach that conveyed warmth as well as innovation, including eye-catching geometric graphic treatments and people-centered photography
- Establishing bold callouts and high-contrast data visualization to help the nonprofit share research findings in a dynamic way
With the new system in place, we created a visually appealing, paced-out style guide that tells the brand story and outlines how to use key elements. The style guide serves as a tool for the Financial Health Network not only to guide asset creation, but also to introduce its new brand to staff members and external partners alike.
Brand Messaging
Clearly Communicating a Commitment to FinHealth
The Financial Health Network’s new mission was clear and simple: to improve financial health for all. But how do you tell that story to a diverse cross-sector audience with varying levels of understanding, interest, and commitment to financial health?
Statement helped the Financial Health Network establish new positioning and develop key messaging for its priority audiences, from longtime financial services partners to new prospects in the employer market. This involved:
- Repositioning the Financial Health Network as the leader of a movement, creating a sense of collaboration and energy among its partners
- Creating a boilerplate, service description, and other messaging tools that balanced information and inspiration to drive excitement among audiences
- Developing the nonprofit’s first editorial style guide, improving efficiency and consistency across written communications
Brand Activation
Bringing the Brand to Life
The Financial Health Network’s annual EMERGE conference was the perfect opportunity for a dramatic reveal of its new brand and mission. Post-launch, Statement has continued to bring the nonprofit’s new identity to life through a constellation of initiatives.
Experiential and Events
We created environmental branding for the Financial Health Network’s office, including a large-scale installation of its new logo and an engaging brand video that greeted visitors in the lobby. Statement also extended the brand to events beyond EMERGE, like its Member Summit. We created a new look and feel for Summit that worked seamlessly alongside the full brand ecosystem, and then carried it through everything from signage to recruitment communications and on-site swag.
Research
The Financial Health Network’s original research provides business leaders, policymakers, academics, and other leaders with important insights into consumers’ needs. We applied the new design system to create engaging content and experiences, such as the Financial Health Network’s signature Financial Health PulseⓇ and FinHealth Spend initiatives, for a diverse range of audiences.
Financial Solutions Lab
For nearly a decade, the Financial Health Network ran this high-profile fintech accelerator with founding partner JPMorgan Chase. Statement created a unique logo and visual branding for the Financial Solutions Lab that reflects its role, yet ties back to the larger Financial Health Network brand.
Additional Initiatives
As the Financial Health Network continues to grow, Statement is by its side to build out assets for new initiatives and opportunities. So far, we’ve created identities for over 12 sub-brands – from major initiatives to ready-to-use tools.
Results
Branding for Future Growth
The Financial Health Network’s new brand has provided a solid foundation for growth. Several years in, the nonprofit is engaging new markets, establishing major partnerships, and even influencing policy change – furthering its mission to make a real difference in people’s financial lives.
