Global brand company venturethree has partnered with leading UK credit provider NewDay to create a striking brand identity and launch a campaign for Bip, the UK’s first digital-only credit card.

With the rise of contactless and digital wallet transactions, NewDay recognised that for some consumers the credit experience needed to evolve beyond the plastic card. Designed around the customer, Bip offers a completely cardless alternative for the traditional credit card category with features that put the consumer firmly in control through a single app.

venturethree was tasked with creating a solely digital brand identity which, like Bip’s proposition, reflected the need for simplicity. At the heart of the new visual identity sits a range of verbal and graphic elements, leveraged seamlessly by NewDay’s internal product design teams for maximum impact across all UX and UI touchpoints. Together, the elements enable the brand to look different every time you see it, whilst remaining unmistakably Bip at every turn.

As the creative lead, venturethree built the brand from the ground up – starting with the distinctive name Bip, which echoes the sound of a notification, alert or instant transaction. Central to the brand identity is a graphic dot that embodies the simplicity of the completely cardless credit experience, whilst a vibrant colour palette contrasts with the monochrome to complement the brand’s bold tone of voice.

Playing on the unique syllable of Bip’s name, venturethree also created a bespoke sonic brand to convey the simplicity of the product in one swift sound. More than just a name, ‘Bip’ acts as the gateway to an experience-led sonic soundscape, which features everything from haptics, to a mnemonic, to a full audio track.

Tim Jackson, Design Director at venturethree commented: “Our central idea was to create a brand identity which was disruptively simple. By building the brand from the experience outwards and maintaining a strong customer focus, we foresee Bip’s unique visual and sonic identities ultimately becoming the digital metaphor for credit.”

The work reflects NewDay’s efforts in defining a new kind of credit experience with Bip – one designed around evolving customer needs, offering simplicity and control. The brand wraps around all moments of the customer experience within the app, powered by unique control features that enable customers to set their own spend limits and see how much they could save on interest with Bip’s payment calculator. For launch, venuturethree also crafted an all-encompassing campaign that stands out and delivers one single-minded future-focused message – cardless credit run by you.

Elizabeth Skinner, Director of Marketing at NewDay commented: “Bip is designed for a growing population of consumers who want a digital-only credit experience with effortless control. With a bold and recognisable brand identity that reflects the simplicity of the Bip proposition, our latest product is an opportunity to spearhead the evolution of credit within the UK marketplace in line with evolving consumer needs.”

Bip is available via the App Store and Google Play and can be added to the digital wallet of the customer’s mobile phone. Just like a traditional card, Bip can be used anywhere Mastercard® is accepted when making contactless or online payments. The appearance of the virtual card in the wallet is also a UK market first. The Mastercard® logo appears in the centre of the ‘card image’ for the first time, and not in the bottom right-hand corner.

Speaking of venturethree’s work, Ben Maudsley, Head of Brand and Design at NewDay said: “Collaboration is at the heart of our work with venturethree. Having worked with them over the past 5 years, we knew that they would be the ideal partner to create an impactful and insight-led brand from scratch. Partnering closely with our in-house design teams, the Bip brand stretches seamlessly across the entire customer experience and launch activity.”

NewDay’s lead media partner VCCP Media managed all the high impact broadcast and Out-of-Home (OOH) elements of media planning and buying. In order to reach the Bip audience, the agency delivered a fully integrated national campaign, with a focus on the key metropolitan areas of Manchester and London. Launch activity includes ‘iconic’, high-traffic and experiential OOH placements; TV, radio, digital and social. Other key NewDay agency partners involved in the campaign include Brainlabs and The Tree.

Nick Baum, Director at VCCP Media added: “Bip offers something truly original to consumers. As a new brand to market, we needed to ensure a national presence with our brand and advertising campaign, communicating its market-leading proposition at scale.”