The Anansi Brand Refresh: Story Behind its Evolution

Say hello to a refreshed Anansi!  We are excited to announce an evolved brand identity.

This is not just a change in our look and messaging, but a result of hard work and iteration across the business following a period of steep learning and new growth. Over the last six months, our product suite has evolved from a Shopify app to an embedded insurance distribution platform.  And with that, our routes to market have increased and our target customer base broadened.

As a result, we felt it was important to reflect on who we are, what our purpose as a company is, our vision for the future, and how our  brand is best positioned within the wider ecosystem. 

The conclusion. Our brand identity needed to evolve to better reflect who we are today and what we’re here to achieve.  

We started with the brand foundations, our verbal identity, our purpose for existing. The why, what, how.  Here’s where we landed. 

Startling statistics

But the brand foundations aren’t just a hunch. The protection gap is staggering. Less than 10% of goods are insured in a $33B global goods in transit insurance market.   

Why? The existing solutions simply aren’t fit for purpose. It’s a choice of either a specialist broker or paying rip off fees to couriers.  Both of which involve obstructive, labour intensive lengthy claims experiences that can take months to settle.

But why does it matter? Good question. Because, when goods are lost, delayed or damaged in transit it’s not the courier who bears the loss.  It’s the seller. 81% of merchants experience challenges around lost and delayed items and 75% of bad reviews relate to the delivery process.  Which is why we know we’re on to something. 

1. 1. By removing the friction surrounding the claims process. Enter automation; 
2. 2. Digitalising the entire customer journey. From quote to claim; 
3. 3. And embedding it directly into platforms, marketplaces, warehouse management systems…

..the insurance can be offered at exactly the right time and the right place. And the experience can, unlike the other solutions on the market, be customer-centric.  It can be a fast, fair and flexible encounter.  

A category defining solution

A reinvented product has the opportunity to solve problems unlike anyone else. Our goods-in-transit insurance platform does just that, it works for rather than against the e-commerce ecosystem.  Businesses can mitigate against lost, delayed and damaged goods, saving their time, reputation, and bottom line.  Finally they’re in control of the customer experience beyond the checkout. 

With product reinvention comes the exciting, but big task, of creating a new category; a new place to put ourselves in people’s minds, a new way for e-commerce to solve the issues.  Defining a new category requires a whole different level of commitment, reinforcement, and effort that goes beyond a revolutionary product or a fancy tagline.  From go to market strategy to product development to executive content and marketing, we need big ideas,  and a team who are intrinsically innovators, that go beyond conventional thinking.  Sound like you?  See open roles. 

New vocal chords

One of the brand pillars that will help us reinforce the impression that we’re experts in this new category is our brand voice.  We wanted to make sure that our tone helped to dispel the industry assumptions of old; the snail-like old fashioned pace and the opaque, and occasionally dry, tone.  So, we made a pledge to talk to our customers consistently using the following  characteristics. Humility. Passion. Confidence. Informative. Clear. Concise.

Finally, we evaluated our brand visually. How could it help us achieve our new mission and assist with category creation?  A category defining challenger proposition deserves a challenger identity.

We wanted to convey energy and reflect the dynamic and cutting edge work we do to help establish Anansi as thought leaders in the insurtech and embedded insurance space.  We’re still the same Anansi, living and breathing our core values, but with a refreshed brand identity.

Rediscovering Anansi, what’s changed?

• Our colour palette has expanded to include a bold and vibrant purple, making options for future assets more versatile, modern and eye-catching;
• A large proportion of the Anansi beige colour has been replaced with white to convey clarity, simplicity and modernity.
• We have unified our brand across our suite of distribution channels.  Previously, the Shopify app operated under a different brand ’OffCourse’. We now use the Anansi brand consistently across our product applications.
• To highlight the customer-centricity of our evolved value proposition, we now use authentic photographs of real people.
• Instead of focusing primarily on product features, we are focusing more on our purpose and how we are building technology to help e-commerce better protect their customer experience.
• We’ve replaced dated stock photography with vibrant and energetic illustrations to give us a unique, dynamic and fun style.
• A new website is live and close to being fully refreshed, with phases 2 of 3 complete: www.withanansi.com
• Our typography and typography colours have been updated to improve accessibility and readability.
• Overall, we approach the design of any Anansi asset with a fresher look, deeper contrasts and increased spacings. 

“Embedded insurance experiences are the future of insurance.  Instead of thinking in terms of how to sell insurance, we’re shifting the mindset. What we’re actually doing is twofold. We’re empowering e-commerce brands to offer next-level insurance experiences, at a pace and from a place previously unimaginable, whilst enabling large retailers and SMB merchants to provide exceptional customer experiences.”   Anna Carless, Head of Marketing Anansi

We are just getting started, and we couldn’t be more excited

We’re a startup with a lean marketing budget, operating without external support from a brand agency, and are under no illusion.  A brand is never static, and we still have lots more to learn about our current, future customers and the evolving ecosystem that we operate in. 

With scale, it’s highly likely that there will be further brand growth and iterations.  But for now, we’re still the same brand and recognisable as Anansi, we’ve just had a facelift.