New momentum through strategic clarity: Helping Cushon rediscover their edge

Fintech
Established business
Consultancy

Cushon managed to disrupt the crowded workplace ISA and pension market. How? By making a painfully complex space accessible, simple and easy. They pitched themselves as a different kind of provider - and it worked.

As the business quickly grew, the weight of operations began to swamp their product, design and engineering teams. They became purely focused on managing internal operations and fixing the foundations of their user experience.

We began working with them at a pivotal moment. They’d just been acquired by NatWest - and, while this brought new opportunities, they were worried about losing the maverick, fintech culture that had set them apart in a crowded market.

They also knew their more traditional competitors were starting to catch up to their once distinctive app-first strategy. They needed to get their inventive edge back and lay the groundwork for the next chapter in their growth.

cushon.co.uk

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OUR IMPACT

How we helped

We worked directly with the leadership team over the course of a year to help them reorientate their strategy around their unique value. Put simply, what is it that Cushon can offer customers that they can’t get anywhere else in the market.

Our audience research uncovered the persistent challenge of the pensions industry: engagement. They had swathes of customers who they classed as ‘sleeping’. We found that within this sleeping state, there was a sizable subset of customers who knew they should take control of their pension but were doing all they could to put this off: Pension procrastinators.

These are the kind of insights we work so hard to unearth during strategic design research —a potentially huge opportunity for an ignored and underserved audience that has been overlooked by the industry.

From here we began prototyping new services that would appeal directly to this mindset. While most in the industry were focusing on financial education, we prioritised removing barriers and giving people just enough information to act.

To connect with customers on a more emotional level we created Iris, a character who gently nudges people forward. Iris encourages customers to do just one simple thing, rather than overwhelming them with a dashboard of options or a long checklist.

As this approach gained momentum, we created a set of guiding experience principles, enabling product and design teams to make coherent, consistent decisions. These principles define how a Cushon experience should—and importantly, shouldn’t—feel in order to build stronger connections with the right customers.

In a highly cluttered and competitive marketplace, our work has given Cushon the confidence to focus their digital strategy where it will have the most impact. By knowing not only where to invest effort but also where to step back, they now have an approach that both sets them apart and drives growth.

We love partnering with teams that challenge the status quo and see opportunities to push entire industries forward. That’s why we’re proud that our collaboration with Cushon continues today. Their commitment to innovation goes hand in hand with a bold environmental mission: to reduce the carbon footprint of their investments by 80% by 2030. It’s a journey we’re excited to support as they lead change across both the financial and sustainability landscapes.

“The Berst team have the ability to take a complex mess and turn it into clarity while your back is turned. They’re deep strategic thinkers who don’t stop at ideas—they apply their thinking to create solutions of exceptional quality. Working with them fundamentally changed the energy in our team and showed us what’s possible. I only wish I could work with them all the time.”