A brand strategy for a neo bank aimed to democratize the way wages are paid

Minu is a Mexican fintech startup with the goal of improving the financial health of Mexican employees by offering a platform where users can withdraw their salary for the hours they have already worked.

In México, more than half of the working population live on a day-to-day basis, meaning they survive from one paycheck to the next without, more often than not, the necessary liquidity to make ends meet. That is why minu developed a digital solution that gives employees ongoing access to their daily earnings.

In 2018, minu, back then referred to as “Lalo,” was a small startup with a mission to impact millions of lives through a digital platform. They reached out to us to help them figure out how to create a brand that could better connect with their target audience in order to have a greater reach and adoption rate.

In order to help minu reach their goals, we designed a naming and brand strategy that would speak directly to the consumer and would position minu as it is: a strong, relevant, and differentiated brand with a mission to give workers better access to the earned wages that legally belong to them.

We defined the name and brand identity in close collaboration with the project’s stakeholders to make sure it reflects the full potential of the project, as well as the key messages they wanted to project to their consumers.

We held ideation workshops with the team at minu in order to define the name and design of the brand identity that came to life through the elements of visual congruence that reflect the value proposition. This process included figuring out who the brand is, what they stand for, and why their clients should care.

In order to establish the aesthetics as well as the look and feel of the brand, we got inspired by creating a mood board that portrayed trends adopted by different fintechs all over the world, including colors, typography, and images, among others.

The brand elements were defined based on how the brand would present itself to the world, taking into account research, brand positioning, and key messages. These were then validated with potential customers to evaluate their perception of the name, colors, and typography.