Thrivent is a Fortune 500 diversified financial services organisation providing financial advice, investments, insurance, banking, and generosity programmes to 2.3 million customers in the USA. In 2020, Thrivent paid out USD 1.76 billion in life and health benefits at a critical time for many and returned USD 329 million in dividends to eligible clients. Through its generosity programmes, Thrivent also helped clients with their charitable work, as clients, family and friends volunteered over 9 million hours raising USD 208 million for good causes.
Thrivent believes its customers want to work with an organisation who see “money as a tool, not a goal”; a company with financial expertise whose customers sees their financial picture in one place; and underpinned by a modern digital-first experience. Thrivent believes that an organisation who meets these demands and serves its clients in this way, will benefit from future growth.
Due to the changing US marketplace – influenced by emerging disruptors, shifts in customer expectations, and new digital trends – and being largely unknown outside the US Midwest, Thrivent embarked on a rebrand in 2020.
The organisation set out to deliver this rebrand by looking at its purpose, promise and principles. This, in turn, drove the development of the new brand experience as a key component of its transformation: to create a purpose-driven company for future generations, helping people achieve financial clarity.
Thrivent revisited its history, looking at what it wanted to honour moving forward to become more relevant. It launched its new brand, strategy and communications via its first national advertising campaign and through radio, print and digital channels. It also completed the development of a new Corporate Centre in downtown Minneapolis, which carried the new brand throughout.
The repositioning of Thrivent’s brand was around a targeted customer base to serve the younger generation, who saw Thrivent more as a charity than a financial service organisation. This generation identified the importance in changing peoples’ perception to increase awareness around their financial expertise and advice.
Thrivent identified the key elements of its new brand: to be visually modern in tone; designed so that every touchpoint that a client has with the organisation is done in a modern and conversational way; and designed primarily for digital platforms.
The shared purpose and values of Thrivent and its (future) clients was a key piece to building its new brand. This was combined with a move towards being customer-centric, and understanding the clients’ needs rather than focusing primarily on products.
A further piece of the brand was Thrivent’s new ‘unifying idea’ (rather than a tagline): Thrive with purpose, a play on its name that succinctly reinforces what the brand stands for and the idea that customers can create their own definition of purpose as they engage with the organisation in the future.
Since the launch of its national advertising campaign, Thrivent has generated interest and excitement with unprecedented scope; and garnered recognition and results, including earning Gold Stevie® Awards for Marketing Campaign of the Year in two categories: Financial Products & Services and Insurance.
