Funding Circle was originally launched as a peer-to-peer lending service but has also helped small businesses access finance over the years. It had the credentials for this service, having worked with Government-owned British Business Bank since 2013.

In 2020 it supported thousands of businesses as one of the largest lenders under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan (CBILS) and Recovery Loan Schemes.

Building on this expertise it wanted to shout louder about how it provided simple, hassle-free business finance for SMEs and to re-establish itself as the top lending platform for businesses. Post-pandemic, the brand approached Atomic London to help reposition it as the UK’s top SME lending platform.  

The strategy

Money makes the world turn around. But it is people who make business happen. In essence, we were developing a financial services B2B campaign but that doesn’t mean it had to be hard-nosed and product focused. We wanted to bring warmth to the campaign.

We spoke to a diverse group of SME owners - and each told us clearly that their success was directly attributable to their own efforts. Not their loan provider. To SME owners, a loan was just an enabler - a helping hand which guided them towards their goal. 

We knew we had to create a brand which was highly distinctive. It had to reflect the crucial role that Funding Circle plays in transforming a business plan into reality. It couldn’t feel like another faceless B2B brand blending into an indistinctive category.

Most importantly, it had to recognise small business owners as the real MVPs. Not just as business owners - but as people too. 

We developed the overarching creative brand platform for Funding Circle - Get A Lending Hand. The platform was founded on the insight that, though Funding Circle’s support is a vital lifeline for SMEs, the service itself should never take centre stage – the story is what it allows people (and businesses) to do. A business success story is a human success story. SME owners are the primary reason behind the success of their business. 

The execution

The Funding Circle logo is purple and naturally circular. What does that resemble? How about an embracing pair of arms bringing a helping ‘hug’ to an SME. And from there came the spark for a distinctive visual asset of a set of flexible, purple arms with their ‘helping hands’. 

Nothing is more human than humour. We imbued Funding Circle with a smile - an underlying playfulness which distinguished the brand from the blandness of the sector. This warm, helpful atmosphere radiating from the brand encapsulated the ‘lending hand’ it provides for SMEs - empowering businesses to thrive without overstating its role. 

The hero ad showed an anxious looking young man bursting into the office restroom accompanied by dramatic music akin to a horror film soundtrack and then staring at his large purple hands in dismay. But an older worker calms him down and soon he sees everyone in the office has the helpful purple ‘lending hands’ from Funding Circle while the voiceover explains how to access “hassle free loans.’

Working with agency partners, we created a brand communication toolkit which allowed the brand to come to life across TV, Social, Radio and OOH. Atomic London activated this distinctive creative asset across numerous channels - from brand and digital all the way through to loan applications on the Funding Circle website, tying together the target business customer journey through the funnel.

The results 

Businesses are powered by money - but built by people.

Atomic London repositioned Funding Circle as a caring brand which puts SME owners first - humanising the loan application process and championing the role of small business owners in bringing their dreams to life. 

The campaign was a success. Pre-qualifying leads increased by nearly a third (31%) and the Sky Broadcast Video On Demand click rate increased by 17%. 

But the most telling metric of the campaign's impact was that it worked so well, it had to be paused. While we didn’t exactly ‘break the bank’, loan applications soared to such levels they exceeded the limits Funding Circle as capable of providing.