ABOUT

Challenge
When Moneycorp first came to us they were a small player in the retail foreign exchange market with some presence on the UK high street. Holding big ambitions, Moneycorp wanted to expand their UK presence by expanding into the airport money exchange space. In order to them win the Heathrow account the challenge was clear, we needed to come up with a disruptive proposal that would allow Moneycorp to compete with the big, established category players.

Insight
Consumers, on the whole, didn’t trust exchange bureaus, which is why we set out to shift their perceptions. First, we needed to revise the brand identity in order to make it more approachable whilst imbuing it with meaning above and beyond the product offering itself i.e. money exchange. Secondly, we needed to look at bureaus themselves. Traditionally, bureaus had been marked by a glass wall separating the consumer from the cashier. But these glass walls weren’t necessary for security – after all, airports are the most secure places in the world – and, worse, they perpetuated a feeling of distrust. So, we broke them down.

Solution
We started by giving Moneycorp a new brandmark; the North Star. The North Star has always been a point of guidance for travellers – and we wanted the brand to be the same - a re-assuring trusted presence in the airport. At the same time, we softened the wordmark with a new typographic style and lower-case lettering. We also fundamentally turned the way consumers think about Forex on its head through the new Moneycorp brand retail experience. We exchanged the retail kiosk to an open-plan brand environment, centred on the theme of ‘no barriers’.

Result
Following the rebrand and the exploration of the consumer’s retail experience, Moneycorp won the account at Heathrow and has significantly built its exclusive presence across other airports including Gatwick, Stansted, Bristol, Southampton and Southend. The brand has grown almost 400% since the re-brand and is now worth £1bn.