Satispay
Emballé, c’est payé.
Read this if you’re looking to: strike the right tone in more than one country.
People Paying People
When Satispay (Italy’s second unicorn) wanted to expand their independent payments network across Europe, they turned to Koto for a full rebrand to drive the next chapter of growth. True to form, the studio delivered an emboldened new positioning and identity centred around the company’s people-first belief. Our task? To ensure the new verbal identity would pack the same punch in the brand’s key markets; Italy and France.
Transcreation of key messages from EN to FR and IT
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Say ciao to transcreation.
A simple translation would’ve fallen flat and diminished all the distinctiveness of the new identity. So we dug deeper; uncovering not just linguistic nuances, but market and cultural considerations too. That’s what’s known as transcreation; and it’s what you want when you’re dealing with branding, marketing and advertising.
Transcreation of key messages from EN to IT and FR
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Our approach
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1. Tweak the tone of voice
We reviewed the original tone of voice principles through a local lens. Then carried out the necessary tweaks to make it applicable to the selected markets, while retaining its original spirit.
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2. Ideate new messages
Mapping the messaging framework against the tone of voice allowed us to generate all-new French and Italian-first lines that felt truly native.
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3. Get market-specific
Create market-specific guidance based on the unique linguistic, cultural and market considerations of Satispay in Italy and France.
A French twist on the English original, “Your one-stop payments shop”.
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A French touch
‘Emballé, c’est payé’ plays on the common French saying, ‘Emballé, c’est pesé’ [lit: ‘Wrapped, it’s weighed’; fig: ‘It’s done’]. A reference to weighing groceries, here we’ve swapped ‘pesé’ with ‘payé’ to create a tongue-in-cheek link to the world of payments (and by association, Satispay).
Nitty-gritty grammar
Questions like, “Which form of ‘you’ do we use?” and, “How can we write inclusively in languages where every noun is inherently gendered?” proved crucial to resolve so as not to alienate local audiences and stay on brand. So we delivered additional guidance for each country, which considered the specific linguistic, cultural and market factors that affect local brand perception.
Italian for “Send it. Spend it. Satispay it.”
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An Italian flavour
‘Detto fatto’ is a typical Italian way to say “No sooner said than done”. Here, we’ve added ‘pagato’ to link the speed of Satispay to a vibe of ease and convenience. The punctuation gives it added punch, in line with the ‘daring’ tone of voice principle.
Nailing native nuance
By collaborating with native French and Italian-speaking copywriters, we had total freedom to reimagine the spirit of the new positioning and make it feel native to those markets.
Team
Opening Line: Zosia Swidlicka, Laura Mattiucci, Elena Mei Li Chee, Margot Noel, Verity Morris
Koto: Tom Moloney, Cassidy Moriarty, Tom Hoare, Emma Law
