“Mythic Proportions takes client relationships incredibly seriously. No judgment. No agendas. Just dreaming what could be! They are all HEART! Trust me when I say the outcome you will achieve will exceed expectations in ways you could never imagine!
We hired Mythic Proportions to bring life and purpose to our new product category - prepaid cards. They took our vision of “loving our consumers well” to the next level. It was like they could read our hearts and put that into real action. They are the first ones I think of (and call) when I want to radically change my product, marketing, or business’s storyline. The. Very. First. Ones.
Whatever business or personal goal you might have – trust me, they will make it happen for you.”
– Vice President, Strategy & Transformation, Aventiv Technologies
Aventiv, the parent company behind paySupreme comes from a culture of engineers and technical wondery.
When you enter the foyer of their office in suburban Dallas you are met with a two story tall, 20 yard long wall covered in framed patents.
Years ago they had developed a secure payments system software. They were a product in search of a customer. They found that customer in government municipalities.
Think of a higher level of security for a service like Paypal or Venmo. They are the system used for paying off a lawsuit, or paying child support, alimony or sending money to a loved one’s commissary.
When they approached us they already had substantial research that showed many families who support an imprisoned loved one do so without traditional financial tools.
Very often the audience purchases prepaid debit cards from convenience stores to fund communications or commissary through their apps. What if they could offer a similar product with a benefit of 30% cash back on all associated fees connected to their own products?
Most of their experience was B2B (or B2G). They knew this needed to be a consumer-first approach.
We dug deep into research about who we were serving and found a couple of key insights.
Insight One:
When someone is incarcerated the overwhelming majority of financial and familial responsibility falls on the matriarch of a home. Usually a partner, mother or grandmother.
Who cares for the matriarch? Who looks out for the women who are looking out for so many in their darkest moments?
Insight Two:
72% of families with an incarcerated loved one live on a combined annual income of $25,000 or less.
But we knew the average commissary deposit was $250 per month. This is huge burden on such a tight budget. This means that some additional funding source has to be found each month.
Insight Three:
Research from Freakonomics revealed that 15% of lottery players consider it their retirment plan.
Our audience regularly plays the lottery because it is their only hope for a better financial future.
Even with a 30% cash back benefit, why would anyone need a new debit card in 2020? The barrier to entry is a steep ask for an audience in a desperate and stressed situation.
After identifying and aligning their mission around providing hope, we saw the cash back benefit as a method to fund an unprecedented scholarship & financial grant giveaway program.
We challenged them to not just change their communications outward, but to rethink of themselves internally as well. paySupreme came to us as a financial services company who said the cared about people.
We wanted them to become a company who cared about people and provided hope through financial services.
The Creative Brief lead to a look and feel based upon these insights of the 4 C’s.
Consumer: Who takes care of the caretaking mothers?
Company (Personality): What do Caretaker archetypes and brands look and feel like?
Competition (Category): What does the category of Personal Finance look and feel like? And which cues are important to keep vs discard to stand out in a crowded space?
Culture: What does the culture of prize-winning look like?
They say it’s always darkest before the dawn.
It’s easy for someone outside to say there is always hope.
It’s more difficult to believe itwhen you need it most.
When someone is always depending on you.
When someone always needs a piece of you.
When you need faith,
but sometimes the fear just weighs too much.
We’ve got faith in you.
We see how amazing you are.
You are on the verge.
We want you to see the potential
because we see potential in you.
You’ve got some things in the works.
You are close.
You’re On The Come Up.
paySupreme.
We recommended taking the 30% cash back benefit and repurposing it to provide grants for education and small businesses that could change lives and communities. Second chances became the brands first priority.
We then looked to gamify applications to manage customer interactions and provide ongoing hope, encouragement and support.
If that 30% cash back on transaction fees were repurposed for the greater good and we could accomplish 100% adoption of their 1.3M customers paySupreme could pool over $100M per year. This would provide over 2,000 $50K grants per year.
Why $50K in particular?
The average in state tuition in the USA for state universities was just over $11,000.
This would dwarf the average education scholarship, which is just over $10,000.
$50K would be the equivalent of a full ride scholarship for college, or ath the winners discretion could support for private school for younger children. Or a decent investment on a small business.
This number is 2x an annual income of our audience and is far greater hope than the few dollars they could earn each month in cash back.
It is also the equivalent of a substantial lottery ticket. One you get free every month just by supporting your loved one which would happen anyway.
It also happens to be 500x more likely to win this prize than the powerball.
paySupreme is about empowering communities and providing life-changing rewards. It was important that it utilized a positive psychology to create a virtuous cycle of hope. We sought to recreate their online presence, grant management and app around celebrating the community that won grants and showcasing their dreams.
When this hits critical mass you would have more than 2 grant winners per day each month. That’s a lot of celebrations.
Brand Design Principles
Foundation:
Rooted In Reality
Our paySupreme customers’ lives have been disrupted. As the keystone of the family, she maintains a quiet calm and hides the layers of stress and conflicting emotions from her family to present a strong demeanor.
In Living Color:
Color plays a significant role through the brand identity. The idea of capturing the fullness of the brand by one color is too restrictive and inappropriate. Our paySupreme customers are the primary influence and presence to their families, loved ones and communities. They truly are a light, in the midst of dark times. Color accentuates the positive influence they bring to every connection and evokes an optimistic mindset.
Messaging:
Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It paySupreme supports our matriarch and prioritizes messaging with calls-to-action. All messaging must start with answering the question, “Why?” We must project a sense of proactivity, empowerment, and encouragement.
Photography:
Embracing Hope & Celebrate Dreams Celebrating real people via documentary-styled photography is essential. Aspirational and accessible. Real people in real moments. Candid, and never posed. The overall vibe delivers hope and hustle. The images should evoke feelings of victory and accomplishment.
Typography:
Words become ImagesThe brand font must be synonymous with the mission and integrity it must convey. Our selected font, Proxima Nova, delivers on functionality, aesthetics, and confidence. Our goal was to select a typeface that parallels the values and characteristics of our archetype customer. Personal, optimistic, accessible, credible, and valued.
Deliverables
Brand Strategy
Creative Direction
Identity Design
Platform and Tagline
Copywriting
Marketing
Campaign Strategy
Social Media Content
Special Thanks To:
Pete Osher
Mindy Burns
The Client
Freakonomics
For the Inspiration