The journey of our brand…

With Lantern recently winning the Highly Commended Award for Best Rebrand (Credit Strategy), CEO Denise Crossley reflects on the changes the organisation – and brand – have undergone in the past 18 months…

The company that I took charge of in October 2014 is almost unrecognisable to the organisation I lead today. There have been so many changes during that time – receiving FCA approval under supervision, new management team, restructured corporate governance, revamped approach to customer service, and refurbished office – to name but a few!

Of all the changes, perhaps the most significant – and certainly the most visible – has been the changes to our brand. Our previous name was a little tarnished, but also didn’t reflect the space in which we operated nor our belief in doing what we do the right way.

We engaged a wonderful brand agency – ABA – to help us create a new brand that reflected this changing organisation. Right from the outset, it was clear we had found a group of people who understood what we were trying to do and weren’t afraid to get into the detail of the business, spend time with our people, and figure out what we were all about.

With the help of the ABA team, we realised that our belief in doing things the right way (‘Debt done properly’, in the words of ABA) would have to be at the heart of our new brand. It was this central thought that really shaped everything that was to come – including:

• Our new brand name, Lantern (which captures our desire to guide customers to a better place)
• Our new corporate values (which states both what we believe and what we are about as a team)
• Our updated customer charter, The Lantern Promise (our public promise of care to our customers)
• Our ‘purpose-led’ positioning in the debt purchasing & collection industry

The rebrand has been a success on so many different levels. Behind the headlines of the recent Credit Strategy Award, the journey we have been on with our brand has given staff a tremendous boost of pride and confidence, elevated our standing in the market, and allowed us to carve out a niche as a trustworthy purchaser of debt incurred by customers in vulnerable circumstances.

When we launched the new brand back in March 2018, we led with the headline ‘A leading light in a changing industry’. It was a bold statement for an organisation like ours to make, but just as I believed in it then I still believe that it is who we are today – and I’m not afraid to continue holding us to that high standard as we look to the future.