Building a Better Brand at WEX

A brand is not merely a name and logo. At WEX, our brand signifies who we are, how we act, and how we are perceived. Linking all of our communications and actions back to our brand helps WEX deliver a cohesive message, look, and feel across the many areas in which we do business. It is through our brand that we effectively communicate and enhance our unique promise and positioning.

Scott Brown, brand creative director, has witnessed firsthand the changes WEX has undergone in his sixteen years with the company. When Melissa Smith was named CEO in 2013, she tasked Brown with leading a brand revamp in an effort to push the newly-designed WEX logo along with the changing culture of the company. Smith aimed to create a fun, focused, innovative, and empowering corporate culture at WEX, and it was the job of WEX branding to relay that message through design. The brand aesthetic has since been updated to reflect what WEX is and hopes to become.

For example, in 2015, WEX introduced an internal brand campaign driven by the tagline “We’re Just Getting Started.” The focus of the campaign was to highlight the benefits WEX provides not only to our customers, but to our customers’ customers. In order to refine our message, our branding, and the visual language that backs it up, WEX introduced sub-brands for the distinct industries we serve: fleet, travel, and health. This allowed us to elevate our branding in the markets we serve and drive consistency across new and existing products.

“We are a company that simplifies the complexities of payment systems,” says Brown. “Our corporate brand is succinct and simple because we want to deliver the message that, although we offer powerful solutions and products, we communicate with our partners, customers, and prospects in a way that allows for clear and immediate understanding. Humanizing who we are and simplifying what we do have been major focuses of the brand over the past few years.”

A few of the elements that characterize our corporate brand are:

Our color palette – visually supports our corporate brand through use of powerful, engaging swatches paired with soft, mindful accents.

Brand voice – though we’re a technology company, we speak in human terms. Our voice is honest, direct, and optimistic.

Visuals – the photography we use should add texture to our creative story, be it a transaction about to happen, a potential hassle eliminated, or a life made richer. WEX imagery aims to always be candid, honest, and real. We want things to come across as natural, with larger story implied.

At WEX, we are constantly growing and developing, and Brown stresses that our corporate branding continues to do the same.

“One of the fun things about developing WEX’s corporate brand is that we’re never done. We’re always expanding, evolving, and trying to one-up ourselves. We will keep pushing further to bolster brand recognition, increase consistency, and establish WEX as a differentiated leader in the payments industry.”

And remember, we’re just getting started.