Zip Launches a Branding Campaign Aimed at Winning Consumers’ Trust

Buy now, pay later provider Zip Co. Ltd. late Tuesday launched a brand campaign promoting its belief that consumers are responsible users of BNPL loans. The campaign was developed in response to many BNPL users’ perception that they are overlooked by traditional financial-service providers when it comes to extending credit. Zip says the aim of the campaign is to demonstrate that Zip recognizes its customers are sound “financial decision makers” and that Zip trusts them to repay their loans.

Based on real customer stories and their relationship with Zip, the BNPL provider is also using the campaign to highlight that the Zip brand earns users’ trust through transparency around payment dates and fees and loan repayment flexibility and promotes the tagline of “In You We Trust.”

The campaign, which features Zip user and social-media strategist Destiny Modeste, is currently running on the AdAge.com and Muse by Clios media platforms. Other media platforms are expected to be added soon, the BNPL provider says. 

“As we continue to invest in and grow our presence in the U.S. market, it is important that our brand reflects not just what we offer, but what we stand for,” Jinal Shah, Zip’s chief customer and marketing officer, says by email. “Trust was a repeating theme in [user] stories —trust in themselves, lack of trust in the financial system, what builds trust, what erodes trust … It really highlighted for us that earning trust starts with giving trust.”

The campaign’s message about trust is conveyed through everyday moments and exaggerated scenarios where customers break the third wall of media, look into the camera, and rhetorically ask, “You Trust Me?” The answer in all cases is that Zip trusts its customers by allowing them to “split big payments into not so big ones,” because Zip “trusts you to manage your payments and with money.”

Zip hopes to attract non-users who are skeptical about BNPL loans. “What we see is that there is skepticism [with BNPL], as with any credit-based payment method, among non-users. And rightfully so,” Shah says.

“When terms aren’t clear or products don’t reflect how people actually manage money day-to-day, trust erodes,” Shah continues. “That’s why transparency, flexibility and effective consumer education are critical to building and sustaining confidence in the category.”