After announcing its strategic partnership with Mastercard at the end of July, the London-based fintech Wirex launched its first brand campaign. With a major focus on TV, Wirex’s campaign aims to grow the business by communicating the company’s key user benefits and its overall vision of a digital economy that is accessible to everyone.
To learn more about Wirex’s first brand campaign, we spoke to Martin Best, CMO at Wirex.
"We're very unique - in fact we like to consider ourselves as 'the Hedgehog Fintech' - we're not aiming to be a Unicorn per se. We turned profitable in 2020 and while scaling very quickly, we're aiming to monetise as we grow rather than burn through millions in marketing acquisition.We believe that the days of the Unicorn funding model are likely over and the era of the hedgehog has begun!"
What is Wirex’s new brand campaign all about?
This is an exciting time at Wirex because it's actually our first ever global TV campaign we'll be using across all channels. We felt that 2020 was the right time because we're now available in 2 global regions (EEA and APAC) and have 3 million registered users worldwide.
What is the campaign about? Many have historically perceived a crypto-friendly payment card like Wirex as being a niche segment for those that have expert knowledge of crypto and digital assets. What we're aiming to do is say that crypto really is for all - we're stripping back the complexity and making it relevant to everyone.
We also link our unique Cryptoback™ rewards to the campaign because it enables literally anyone with a Wirex card to receive Cryptoback™ for retail purchases. We feel that we're, therefore, delivering on the promise to widen participation and accessibility to the crypto-friendly segment of Fintech.
Can you walk us through your campaign development process?
We started with data - both internally (our users today) and externally (our users of tomorrow - trends and developments). We then looked at the typical tension points surrounding crypto-friendly products - for example, the concerns about complexity and safety & security. We then looked at the users we felt we wanted to engage with - you'll see there's a range of genders, ethnicities, locations, and environments - all of which convey a feeling of a global movement 'open to all'. In fact, we used actors from all over the world and we have different edits to appeal to specific regions as appropriate.
Did the Covid-19 pandemic affect your branding strategy?
People are generally spending less time outside, using cards less often and buying fewer things in fewer outlets. Conversely, those that are spending are now overwhelmingly preferring digital over cash payments. The situation has changed so quickly and often with very heavy regional differences - lockdowns were/are not uniformly applied. Many of our users joined Wirex to hold crypto assets as well as to use our unique payment card available in fiat currencies. Therefore, we've focused on in-app functionalities and currencies where it matches market changes and consumer interest.
What's next for Wirex?
Ultimately, we believe that 'all currencies should be equal', that's the overall aim of the business. In the long term, we believe that someone should theoretically be able to buy a coffee in Sydney with a stablecoin or a car with crypto in Denver if they want to. We're always looking at ways to bring down barriers to holding/spending different assets and to make the conversion to fiat currencies as seamless as possible. If we can do that by embracing regulation (we are keen supporters of regulation of crypto currencies and assets) and applying for licences where they exist, we believe we'll be advancing the overall case for holding multiple assets of value, whatever they are.
What trends do you think will be shaping the fintech marketing space in 2021?
We've seen some negative stories coming from Fintech over the last few months, specifically in the B2B / corporate media about the fundamentals of Fintech businesses, their valuations, and whether they have a viable long-term business model.
We're very unique - in fact, we like to consider ourselves as 'the Hedgehog Fintech' - we're not aiming to be a Unicorn per se. We turned profitable in 2020 and while scaling very quickly, we're aiming to monetise as we grow rather than burn through millions in marketing acquisition. We believe that the days of the Unicorn funding model are likely over and the era of the hedgehog has begun!
About Martin Best: Martin Best is the CMO of Wirex. He was formerly Managing Director of disruptive Fintech marketing agency Full Reach. Martin is a London-based global Fintech expert, and non-executive Director for global Fintech bodies, working with the Africa Fintech Network and FITSPA.
Previously Head of Brand Marketing, EMEA Marketing and Global Marketing Partnerships for Fintech superstar WorldRemit, Martin has held several 'C' suite marketing and commercial roles in Europe and Asia for brands such as Carlsberg Group.