Fintech Company / Homeowner Membership Platform & Products

PROJECT: Rename a startup fintech company and its group of offerings designed to make home ownership more affordable and rewarding.

MESA: An isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides, as found in arid and semi-arid areas of the US. Etymology: Spanish for table; from Latin mensa meaning table.

BRAND POSITIONING: The CEO of this startup, provisionally named Acre Rewards, came to Zinzin looking for a new, more elevated name to serve as the cornerstone for this brand that is all about making home ownership more affordable and rewarding for Americans.

In a true spirit of collaboration, Zinzin worked closely with the CEO and his team to develop a name that best supports the company’s brand positioning. After exploring a variety of strong options that evoked the best aspects of “home,” the client chose Mesa, a team favorite throughout the naming process.

Spanish for table, mesa evokes a central location in homes that families gather around at mealtime. But a mesa is also a geologic feature that offers a “big picture” 360º view of the surrounding landscape. Perhaps the most famous mesa in the world is Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park, the largest archaeological preserve in the United States, where some of the ancient sandstone, mortar, and wooden-beam homes are still standing after nearly a thousand years.

The name Mesa is warm, inviting, and timeless – an elevated yet very accessible name that provides homeowners an “invitation to the table” of shared benefits. And for those who might not know its meaning, Mesa also works well as a short, invented name, with a nice 2-syllable cadence.

“We’ve just taken what everybody loves about travel and dining cards to re-contextualize that for the homeowner/parent,” Mesa’s founder CEO Kelley Halpin tells TechCrunch. “So it’s not rewarding you on travel and dining spend; it’s rewarding you on gas, groceries, your HOA, utilities, home goods as well as your mortgage payment.”