A Brand Story:  SPS EZpay™

SPS EZpay, or just “EZpay,” is a payment technology solution for schools and parents of students. EZpay integrates into school meal, activities, and fee systems allowing parents to pay for their children’s interests online instead of sending cash or a check with their kid to school. For schools, EZpay’s integration into their way of doing business helps schools stay efficient in how they manage themselves. It’s a technology that has a very appealing story to tell, both to the parents who want and need such a system, as well as to the school districts who are attracted to the inherent efficiencies of working with EZpay. Here is what we have done for the EZpay brand:

Brand Identity

The creation of the EZpay logo was a genuine treat. When Brand Shepherd creates a new brand identity from scratch we like to give a variety of different ideas, and then variations of each idea we present. Sometimes toward the end of the creation process we have an idea or two we come up with that has nothing to do with the original direction – it’s a take on the general direction that is worth looking at in a “what if…” perspective. Turns out those are logo gold at times! EZpay stunned us when they chose a logo option (above) that was the most fun for us to create because it didn’t scream “this logo belongs in a school.” The EZpay staff took a chance on it, and it has really paid off. All their competitors look like they looked to each other for inspiration, saying “me too!” along the way. Not EZpay. This is a brand identity that is unique to their industry, and it speaks to what EZpay does as a service – they are like no other.

Print Work

After a logo was created we set out to create a branded home for the new identity. Instead of creating a generic ad or brochure cover we always try to design for something real, and we had our opportunity with a simple tri-fold brochure. We have since adapted the EZpay branding and message to a folder as well.

Branded Advertising

The printed collateral gave us reusable digital assets that we could then turn into advertising. EZpay supplied the copy, we helped edit it with suggestions, and the end result is a series of display ads that are on-message and consistent with the EZpay brand.

Email Marketing Design

Taking the message from display advertising, and adding in links to EZpay’s web site, we worked with Constant Contact to create a series of email marketing templates that EZpay can use over and over just by switching out simple text and a few photos.

Web Site

We would not have heard of EZpay had it not been for the kind folks at Global Cloud, whom referred us. Using the branding assets we created for print work, advertising and email, Global Cloud created a web site on their proprietary CMS platform that is not just consistent with the rest of the branding, but is also easily updated thanks to their user-friendly content management system.

Results

“I have found Dan [owner of Brand Shepherd] to always bring some fresh ideas to our creative processes, yet do so in a way that keeps sight of ROI. I would highly recommend him to any one looking for input/assistance in the graphic design and/or marketing collateral areas.” – David Geers, owner of EZpay / IDI„