GreenRoot Case Study

A bit of background

This is Malawi

• GDP per capita = $268

• 75% of the population are subsistence farmers with no formal employment

• One of the least developed, and most corrupt countries in the world

And this is GreenRoot

GreenRoot Finance Limited was founded in 2012 by this lady, Stellah (who kindly put me up for the month).

They are a micro financer.

GreenRoot offers individual or SME loans. Loans to buy land, houses, bikes and cars, and of course start businesses.

There are lots of micro-finance institutions operating in Africa

But GreenRoot has a different approach…

Teachers, security guards, factory workers, farmers and entrepreneurs with an average salary of around $50 a month.

1. They cater to different customers

The very poor

The missing middle

The rich

These are people currently entirely ignored by banks

Without collateral (land) they are seen as a risky prospect for a loan.

Without a loan they have no hope of owning land/home. A vicious cycle that continues to profit the very rich.

But they are the future of the economy

With just a little investment their economic activity affects whole communities.

They spend, build, employ, educate.

GreenRoot has social aims at it’s heart. However, it also operates as a profitable business.

They believe it is the private sector, not foreign development organisations that offer the best opportunities for efficient, sustainable, ownable development.

2. And GreenRoot is actually a profitable business

The brief

They want to offer more loans.

They want to become a bank that serves only the missing middle.

They want to have a bigger economic impact.

But do so they needed to find more funding.

GreenRoot was looking to grow

And felt that funding should be domestic

The very poor

The missing middle

The rich Who?

Rich Malawians.

Easily identified but difficult to convince.

We discovered that the social good aspect of investing GreenRoot was much admired & appreciated

What they are doing for low earning people is so important for Malawi. We need more like this.

But when it came to the crunch investors preferred safer options

You never know what is happening with money here. I only trust banks with my savings.

GreenRoot as a business was perfectly set-up to answer both these needs

Strong socially conscious aims and beliefs

A profitable business that could provide very

attractive returns

But the brand wasn’t doing that justice

A brand that looked and felt like a charity.

That did nothing to instil a sense of trust and prestige in potential investors.

In short, it was all a bit confused.

They didn’t just need communications, they needed an entire re-brand.

(Brand) Purpose: what do you exist to do?

(Customer) Proposition: what can we say to engage a) investors and b) clients?

(Communications) Presentation: how should you look/feel/talk?

(Advertising) Promotion:How will you get the message out there?

With just 4 weeks and a small team in which get it all done

Welcome to the new GreenRoot

Helping people is our purpose.

But we present ourselves professionally.

The solution

Our new purpose

GreenRoot exists to provide loans that change lives for the

better…

Because we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to

determine their financial future.

Our manifesto

We are an innovative financial institution based in Lilongwe.

Our aim is to support the under-banked but economically active people of Malawi – helping them to maximise earning

potential with access to bike, vehicle, land and business loans. We also offer financial management training, to enable

people to make the most of their loan.

The loans are we offer are uncomplicated and fast. But the change we’re creating is long-lasting and sustainable. We are empowering people to take control of their financial future.

Moving away from microfinance

Micro-finance is a complicated and loaded term.

As we develop our brand and move towards a future that sees our services evolve in to deposit taking and beyond we need to broader term for

what we do. We believe ‘innovative financial institution’ is the best articulation of this.

Our new strapline

GreenRoot, Growing Prosperity

We created a motto, or strapline, that can be used across the business – on every piece of communication from emails to brochures to the website. It neatly summarises everything

we think GreenRoot stands for.

Our new strapline

GreenRoot, Growing Prosperity

‘Growing’ alludes to our optimistic and ambitious view of the future and our desire to keep building and bringing innovation the market.

‘Prosperity’ references both the financial gains of both our clients and investors, and the long-term social change we endeavour to bring about - a stronger, thriving Malawi.

Our new logo

A new website

Their first newspaper ad

Investor information