Portafina

An approachable yet inspirational brand look and feel

Portafina help consumers access their pension savings through a process called pension release. Simply put, this enables savers to draw down on their existing private pensions and put the capital to work. Either to move it to tax free savings or to use it for other living ambitions. Firedog was briefed on creating an engaging and inspirational brand which reflected the unique business offer. We conducted company wide and prospective client research combined with broad sector and competitor analysis. The findings are summarised in a set of strategic recommendations. It was important that the brand did not follow the established rules of conservative financial services. Rather, it should be more consumer focussed and friendly. Research advised that the business is built upon warm customer service delivered by a young, yet competent team.

The brand promises its target audience a future filled with more enjoyment. We developed a positioning which used the tagline “Inspiring Futures”. The message has a play on words being both an adjective but also an active verb. We wanted to create an image which carried the positive message of freedom and unlocked potential. A pension release process takes what can be seen as locked up capital and liberates the assets so that the consumer can use it for more current needs and aspirations. The brand symbol has a global type feel which hints at travel and movement. We supported the messaging with engaging imagery showing a more adventurous spirit. The imagery portrays people enjoying the great outdoors – Getting out there and living while they can. A subset of the image library takes this further by showing a first person perspective. This POV type framing challenges consumers to put themselves in the picture.

The branding combines the bright colour palette with a book of custom patterns. These are overlaid in graphic shapes which break out of the square format in order to create more engaging and colourful layouts. The colour palette is made up of primary tones which create a really vibrant and energetic feel. It is important that the brand feels engaging and nonconformist in its feel. The branding always sits on white, yet the box out device is created using abstracted angles and shapes. All the brand assets have been supplied to the client along with a comprehensive style guide in order for the brand to be further executed across communication channels.