Pleo Salutes the 'Craft of Finance' in a Pan-European Scholz & Friends Rebrand
Spend-management fintech Pleo has rolled out a pan-European brand campaign — 'For the craft of finance,' created by Scholz & Friends — that celebrates finance professionals and their expertise, a notably human B2B stance in a category racing to automate the numbers away.
A B2B campaign that flatters its buyer
Pleo, the Danish spend-management platform, has launched a pan-European brand campaign built around the line "For the craft of finance," developed with German agency Scholz & Friends. Rather than positioning software as a replacement for finance teams, the work pays tribute to the precision and dynamism of the people who do the job — the "number-crunchers," affectionately framed.
The campaign targets finance professionals across Europe and leans into craft, care and control as emotional territory — unusual ground for a category that usually sells speed and cost savings.
Why this positioning is clever
Most fintech marketing implicitly tells finance teams that their manual work is a problem to be eliminated. That is a hard message to love if you are the buyer. Pleo inverts it: the tool exists to honour the craft, not to erase the craftsperson. Flattering your buyer is a durable way to build preference.
It also differentiates. In a crowded spend-management market where features converge, an emotional, human brand idea is harder to copy than another list of integrations — and it travels across markets without heavy localisation.
Marketing Minute's read: B2B brand-building grows up
This is part of a broader, welcome shift: B2B brands investing in feeling, not just functional proof. In categories dominated by demos and ROI calculators, an idea that respects the audience's identity earns attention and, over time, pricing power. The "craft" framing is a smart wrapper for what is ultimately a control-and-compliance product.
The caveat is proof. Emotional positioning must be backed by a product that genuinely makes the craft easier, or the sentiment curdles into empty flattery. Brand promise and product experience have to agree.
What businesses should do now
If you market to specialists — finance, IT, operations — resist the reflex to frame their work as a problem. Position your product as an amplifier of their expertise, and you will find warmer reception and stronger loyalty than a pure efficiency pitch delivers.
Then align the experience. Make sure onboarding, support and everyday use visibly respect the buyer's craft, so the brand idea is validated the moment they start using the product.
Quick FAQ
What is Pleo's new campaign?
"For the craft of finance," a pan-European brand campaign by Scholz & Friends that celebrates finance professionals' precision and expertise rather than positioning software as their replacement.
Who is it aimed at?
Finance professionals across Europe — the buyers and users of spend-management tools — with a human, craft-focused message.
Why is the positioning notable?
Most fintech marketing frames manual finance work as a problem to eliminate; Pleo instead honours the craft, a rarer and more flattering B2B stance.
Most fintech tells finance teams their work is a problem to delete — a tough sell to the very people buying the software. Pleo flips it: the tool honours the craft, not erases the craftsperson. That's smart, durable B2B positioning, as long as the product genuinely makes the craft easier. Flatter the buyer, then deliver. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
When you market to specialists, position your product as an amplifier of their expertise, not a replacement for it — then make the experience prove it.
Does 'craft' beat 'efficiency' as a B2B message for you? Tell us how you'd sell software to the people it automates.
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: HORIZONT, Campaign Germany, Scholz & Friends, Pleo.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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