Branding agency Principals has developed a brand strategy, refreshed visual identity and tone of voice for business finance provider Valiant Finance.
Valiant helps Australian business owners find the best loan for their business. Using proprietary technology, business owners can explore their finance options online, while being supported by a team of experts. Working with more than 70 lenders, Valiant offers a seamless customer experience with the ability to submit a single digital application, regardless of the lender. The technology is intuitive, but the humanity and drive behind Valiant’s culture makes the experience truly memorable.
Having secured additional equity funding from ANZ and software giant Salesforce, Valiant was looking to kickstart the second phase of growth and strengthen its place in business lending. To help achieve the ambition of being the first place businesses turn to for finance, Valiant wanted to reset its brand to stand out in a fiercely competitive market.
Principals Strategy Director Moensie Rossier said: “Valiant is a trailblazer in business finance. In true challenger spirit, Principals helped Valiant identify its ‘enemy,’ which turned out not to be a lack of choice or time, but the emotional rollercoaster of stress experienced by business owners when applying for a loan. This set the tone and direction for the brand going forward.”
Principals worked closely with Valiant’s founders and team to develop a refreshed brand positioning, evolving the existing lion device to reflect the care Valiant’s people take to help businesses achieve their goals.
The new identity and aesthetic, created collaboratively with Valiant’s in-house designer, Rachel Dang, uses ‘negative space’ to show a lion with its cub, evoking a collective pride representative of Valiant’s tight-knit and resourceful team. To ensure Valiant’s roar was ready to be heard, Principals’ brand voice arm XXVI created a language framework that connects with the active mindset of the brand’s customers.
Valiant Co-Founder Ritchie Cotton said: “Principals was a fantastic match for our culture and values. Their mantra of making brand a force for positive change, the brands they had helped build through their Foundation work, and their get-it-done attitude resonated with us. Our new identity captures and conveys our core value of customer championship while accentuating the humanity that we bring to business finance, something we feel is too often missing these days. We’re now ready for the next stage of our journey, and ready to keep company with the biggest brands in finance.”
