SPARKLE: Africa's Soho House of Banking
Elevating Sparkle: The Shift from Fintech to Lifestyle Brand
Sparkle had built a solid digital banking product, but the brand communication remained transactional. The platform's unique promise; integrating finance with lifestyle, was getting lost in functional messaging that positioned Sparkle as another fintech app rather than a cultural enabler. The challenge was to help Sparkle articulate its identity as a premium, modern African lifestyle brand powered by technology.
We began with a brand audit that revealed a critical gap: Sparkle looked like a capable bank, but didn't feel like a desirable lifestyle brand. Users wanted more than freedom with their money, they wanted a partner that enabled freedom in their lives.
We positioned Sparkle as "The Soho House of Banking in Africa" through a 12-week engagement that spanned strategic foundation, brand identity, and community building.
We refined Sparkle's visual identity, shifting from functional to premium aesthetics with black as the dominant color, elevated typography, and lifestyle-oriented imagery. We developed messaging frameworks that moved the brand from transactional to aspirational, creating copy systems across in-app communications, social media, and email marketing.
We produced Sparkle's first major content bank through a lifestyle campaign shoot: 50 high-quality images and 4 videos that positioned the platform as dynamic and aspirational. We also developed the Content Strategy and Flywheel Marketing Strategy to sustain engagement and shift the value proposition from discounts to perks.
The cornerstone of our work was Vibes & Value, Sparkle's lifestyle sub-brand and community-based marketing strategy built around wealth, wellness, access, and culture. Designed as a horizontal brand extension focused on cultural equity, Vibes & Value delivers the Soho House vision by embedding Sparkle within the spaces and communities that define aspirational African living.
We brokered a founding partnership between Sparkle and Gather House, beginning with the Summer Gather Market and expanding into a two-year commitment that includes a Sparkle-sponsored lounge in the upstairs Gather space a dedicated environment for SMEs, women, and the broader creative community. This partnership set the tone for what Vibes & Value represents: not transactional sponsorships, but meaningful integration into the cultural fabric.
Through Vibes & Value, we've secured 10 founding partner members across sectors that reflect the full spectrum of elevated living including: FF Projects and ALARA for art and fashion, Dew Centre and Kowa Studios for wellness and creativity, Money Start Advisory for wealth education, and Magic Padel for active lifestyle experiences. Each partnership positions Sparkle as an enabler of access, to knowledge, to spaces, to networks, to experiences that define living well.
Sparkle re-emerged with clarity and cultural authority, shifting from functional fintech to lifestyle enabler. The brand now operates with strategic infrastructure to behave as a movement rather than just a product, establishing differentiation in a crowded market by anchoring its identity in how people live.
Through our partnership with Sparkle, we've driven community-based acquisition, brokered strategic partnerships, and strengthened brand equity and affinity. Vibes & Value established a replicable framework for cultural activations, positioning Sparkle at the center of Africa's creative and professional class. The partnership ecosystem continues to expand, while the lifestyle content bank serves ongoing marketing needs. Sparkle has secured its position as a premium brand that connects finance to aspirational living.
This project engaged all three service pathways across a 12-week engagement: Foundation work clarified brand positioning and visual direction, Identity work delivered complete creative systems and content production, and Connection work built the community strategy and partnership ecosystem. We provided brand audit, creative direction, content production, campaign execution, and the development of Vibes & Value as Sparkle's cultural equity platform.
