In the same vein as my last critique, let’s take a peek at little ‘ol Robinhood.
To recap, we’re analyzing brand messaging through the lens of storytelling. Us humans seem to respond best to narratives. Not coincidentally, the best products (and companies) tell a story: one that captures our attention, is clear and coherent, and leads us from where we are to somewhere else we’d like to be.
What story is this product telling me, does it make sense, and is it captivating? 💡
Right away, the name Robinhood is meant to inspire a feeling of justice and righteousness. If I recall, it was Robinhood that stole from the rich and gave to the poor. By famously offering commission-free trades, Robinhood ostensibly robs from rich Wall St. and gives back to us, ye olde residents of Main St. It fits with the Robinhood green primary color, too. Kinda cool. 😎
Let’s invest in stuff
There’s actually quite a bit going on here, but it’s communicated in a relatively clear fashion. ✅
We know Robinhood is all about investing in stuff, and you won’t have to pay commissions. There’s a whole bunch of stuff we can “invest” in (more on that later). Also, we can do it from our phone or desktop. They both show and tell this, which is great. I’m also not being bombarded with color (just one soft, pleasing Robinhood green), or hyperbole. 😅
The two calls to action are clear: either sign up on the web, or go to the app store.
Also, the logo makes sense to me. My main gripe is with the complexity of the shape: could we do a simpler, more modern looking quill?
On the other hand, I don’t know anything about logo design. Or much about anything else. So there’s that. For the curious, @pieratt says: “Give it a story, As few shapes as possible, Focus on feeling”.
Moving on…
Flying cash cat 💸
Cash management, da fuck? This placeholder is disorienting. I get it, your brand is fun and weird. However, introducing cash management as a new [complicated] concept seems odd when we haven’t even gotten into the core offering: investing.
It’ll be interesting to see how in the future they merge this into their investment story without diluting it into yet another financial institution.
So what about that investing stuff?
Plenty of investment options 😬
Mostly, I like how they bring back and flesh out the investment options listed in the opening section: stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto.
But, the icons are weak. The style is inconsistent, and if anything they highlight the differences between these products rather than making them all feel like investments (the core message).
This is part of my problem with Robinhood. It feels like a stretch to call these all investments. It also feels like a stretch for Robinhood to present itself as a place for investment rather than one for trading. It’s misleading to present options and crypto (extremely risky, high probability of total capital loss) in the same breath as stocks and ETFs (more or less reliable investment vehicles). This hurts the whole brand, for me.
Too easy?
Fine, you provide the tools and let people experiment. It’s being presented in a way that feels simple, easy, safe, etc. But the fact that it really isn’t that safe continues to bug me.
Same with a headline about being commission-free. Yes, I can see the benefit in terms of immediate savings on commissions. But, you see, what ends up killing most budding traders investors is trading too much — buying high and selling low — rather than the associated trading fees.
I’m getting off-topic with this rant, but if I was making a platform with the goal of helping people become better investors, I’d find a way to charge as much as possible in commissions. Make drunk driving expensive and you’ll have fewer drunk driving deaths.
The rest is similar. The messaging is relatively clear and coherent: a powerful investing platform that isn’t complicated — anyone can use this, and learn as you go. The design is relatively simple, fun, friendly, etc. They’re here to help make it easy for you. Overall, given a few visual and messaging quibbles, I give it a B+.
Unfortunately, my assessment of the company as a whole is a lot more negative. Apologies for being a Debbie Downer, but I’m pretty sure Robinhood is not making the world a better place.