Arca

Arca – rebranding leading credit industry association

Arca is a non-profit industry association that brings together Australia’s leading credit providers and reporting bodies to improve data protection and make credit more visible, accessible and easily understood.

Through advocacy, governance, education and engagement, Arca shapes best practice and ensures Australia’s credit system is robust, respected and trusted.

Truly Deeply was by engaged by Arca to conduct a brand audit to evaluate key aspects of the Arca brand (including the name, strategic proposition and visual identity) to determine its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.

Insight

Our research identified real strengths in the brand’s people and performance. Members spoke very highly of the value Arca provides and the experiences they have with the Arca team. However, there were significant challenges in the brand’s strategic and visual identity.

The previous Arca brand had limited reach & influence, was confusing & misunderstood, had a dated & indistinctive image, and was underselling its potential.

It was also clear that there were challenges with the brand name (previously referred to as Australian Retail Credit Association).

Strategy

Our brand strategy work helped Arca to create a compelling proposition and narrative for the brand to engage its key audiences, both internally and externally.  The new brand strategy now clearly defines who they are, what they do, what makes them unique, and why it matters.

The new brand promise of ‘together for credit confidence’ emphasises Arca’s true differentiation. It also aligns with what members value, leverages the previous brand reputation, and seeks to create positive ownership of ‘credit’. This is supported by a new brand story, positioning statement, personality, and messaging.

The brand name was also changed. The full name was dropped in favour of the shorter abbreviation ‘Arca’. Friendlier, more practical, and memorable, it was a minimal but significant change. The new name signals positive progress while also recognising what many members and stakeholders already called the brand. Arca is now written in title case to encourage pronunciation as a word (Ar-ca), rather than spelling out the letters as an abbreviation.

A new brand architecture strategy was also developed with Arca now clearly endorsing the consumer-focused ‘Credit Smart’ service. This helps provide clarity on ownership as well as reinforce credibility and trust that the service is industry-backed, safe, and reliable. It also provides an opportunity for Arca to further drive thought leadership and demonstrate value to members, their customers, and the broader community.

Design

The new brand identity was created to clearly position Arca as a unifying expert. Simple, yet dynamic and sophisticated, it’s a bold and friendly new identity that truly reflects Arca as well as its strong member focus and partnership ethos.

The brand mark is based is a monogram made up of two stylised arches that represent the ‘A’ in Arca, as well as depicting how Arca engages with its members and stakeholders. The arches form a yin-yang relationship, orbiting around each other to emphasise how Arca’s works together to create credit confidence for members, the industry, and the broader community.

The identity is rounded out with a progressive colour palette, an engaging and approachable font solution, and a simple practical visual language.

Find out more about Arca here.