Cash switch firm Ria takes on a brand new id from Saffron
Ria Money Transfer has been handling money transfers since 1987 when it opened its first tiny outpost in New York City. 34 years later, the company is helping people around the world send money to 160+ countries, allowing cash to be sent as a bank transfer or cash pickup.
Although well established, the company's visual identity had been mixed up prior to the renaming – with different locations using different messages and multiple versions of the orange and blue Ria logo. As a result, Ria suffered low public awareness despite double-digit growth, according to Saffron.
Equally international with offices in London, Madrid, Vienna, Istanbul and Mumbai, the agency was hired to create a new visual identity that expresses Ria's personality but updates the brand for the digital age.
Previous expressions of the Ria branding and word mark and the new identity of Saffron
Safran also created a new brand line for Ria: "We open up ways for a better everyday life". They say this is a gesture in the direction of the many personal reasons people send money abroad, for example to pay for their parents 'medicine, siblings' school fees, or a partner's market stall.
"It focuses on the customers and the impact their money has on the lives of others, while also expressing Ria's role in helping and making the whole process easier," the agency says.
Ria's recognizable bright orange has been retained and used in a disc-shaped motif that Saffron says acts as the brand's “alter ego”. It appears over the "i" in the new sans serif word mark, as well as in a series of cute line illustrations that transform it into anything from a balloon to a telescope lens and a berry carried by an ant.
The rebranding will certainly bring Ria in line with a new world of shrewd financial companies, without compromising on its undeniably good brand presence. However, if criticism is to be found, it is that Safran may have been somewhat overzealous in harmonizing the logo – the previous word character has an air of naive charm that is hard to miss.
saffron-consultants.com