OneFamily: Refreshing a Mutual for a New Generation

The Challenge

OneFamily is one of the UK’s leading mutuals, managing £5.5 billion for nearly two million customers. Historically, its strength was in Child Trust Funds, where it held over 25% market share. But as those funds began maturing, the business faced a challenge: how to stay relevant to young adults taking control of their money — and how to attract new customers in a competitive market.

The strategy was clear: pivot towards ambitious 18–35 year olds, win share in Lifetime ISAs and ISAs, and build a 5% foothold in the LISA market. With big-spending fintech disruptors dominating the space, carving out relevance would require more than a cosmetic refresh.

Our Approach

We began by digging into the data and listening to our audience.

Research & tracking showed brand awareness among 18–35s was almost non-existent. Fintech brands like Moneybox and Nutmeg were winning mindshare with slick, digital-first experiences. The challenge was clear: define a distinct, ownable and emotive brand position that combined the credibility of a mutual with the simplicity and energy of a fintech.

Social listening revealed deep frustrations:

• Rising house prices and interest rates made saving feel impossible.
• Dismissive “boomer” advice – like skipping lattes – only fuelled irritation.
• Young adults wanted to save without giving up their lifestyle, yet felt stuck living at home or house-sharing.
• Many felt intimidated by investing and feared “getting it wrong.”

Competitor analysis confirmed an opportunity. Fintechs emphasised ease, but no brand connected emotionally with young people’s life goals. Traditional mutuals offered trust, but not the digital simplicity this generation expected.

Strategy

Our solution was to reposition OneFamily as a modern mutual: trusted, empathetic, and simple to use like a fintech, but with the human values of a member-owned organisation.

The core message:
“We get it. We get you. And we’ll help you get there.”

This became the foundation for OneFamily’s new identity and customer promise:

• A smarter way to save for a first home, a child’s future, or other ambitions.
• A voice that recognises the challenges young people face today and speaks their language.
• A brand personality like a smart, supportive older sibling: inspirational, empathetic and straight-talking.

Creative Identity

• Bold colour palette – Bright pink to signal bravery and optimism.
• Brand circle / corona – Simplified to show OneFamily literally backing its members.
• Authentic imagery – Real, relatable moments of life in motion.
• Clear typography – Highlighted key words to reinforce simplicity.
• Tone of voice – Aspirational, empathetic, and jargon-free.

Activation

The refreshed brand launched with TV advertising, social campaigns, and is being rolled out across OneFamily’s digital presence.

Results

Early results show strong performance:

• Significant uplift in new investments.
• Efficient acquisition costs.
• A revitalised brand with clear space in a competitive market.

… and here’s what our client had to say about working with Moreish;

“We had a clear commercial objective to win market share in the LISA market. We had two key challenges, the brand had to resonate with 18-35 ‘aspirationals’ and we needed to compete with the Fintechs. Moreish helped us pivot our brand to deeply connect emotionally and rationally with our target market, creating a new customer promise of “We get it. We get you. And we’ll help you get there” developing our new brand personality  of a smart, supportive older sibling: inspirational, empathetic and straight-talking. Their expertise in financial services behavioural psychology  and their deeply thoughtful approach to communication has successfully led to a new campaign launch significantly increasing both, brand saliency and direct marketing metrics across the investment space”.

Beth Tait, Marketing Director – OneFamily

Looking for a financial services marketing agency that knows how to win younger audiences — without losing trust or credibility? Speak to Moreish Marketing about brand strategy, positioning and growth for financial services.