Wonga looks to ‘repair its reputation’ as it axes puppets and overhauls ad strategy
Wonga has ushered in former RSA CEO Andy Haste as chairman to “repair” the reputation of the controversial Payday loan company, in a move that will see it overhaul its marketing and advertising strategy.
As part of the shake-up, the brand’s famous grandparent puppets will be axed from its adverts to distance Wonga from any connotation that it is targeting children, according to its newly appointed chairman.
“I’m very aware of the criticism of the current approach and the puppets will be going. I’m going to be reviewing all of our advertising and marketing to make sure that we don’t leave any impression that we’re trying to influence or target the very young or the venerable,” Haste said in a video posted on the Wonga website.
He has also laid out six main priorities to take the company through “significant change” to ensure it can survive going forward. These include addressing Wonga’s transparency in its products and conducting a review of its customer base to ensure it only lends to those who can afford the repayments.
“Wonga has understandably faced a lot of criticism and I know that we need to repair our reputation and regain our right to be an accepted part of the financial services sector and that’s what the six key priorities are all about,” he said.
Haste blamed the company’s past failings on its inability to keep up with the pace of its customer base and sizeable growth – the seven-year old company now has around one million customers.
In an additional statement Haste, who is also a senior independent director of ITV, revealed that Wonga is harking back to its “original vison”, of providing short-term lending to customers in a “responsible and transparent” way.
“We will become a more customer focused, and inevitably in the near term, a smaller and less profitable business. However, we are determined to make the necessary changes and serve our customers in the right way, to repair our reputation and become a business with a long-term future and an accepted place in the financial services industry,” he added.
Wonga recently landed in hot water after it emerged that the company had sent letters from non-existent law firms to customers in arrears between 2008 and 2010. It agreed to pay £2.6m in compensation to 45,000 customers.