Stripe's first brand campaign puts its enterprise clients on landmark billboards

Stripe's first brand campaign had to demonstrate the breadth of its products to enterprise-level businesses in both the UK and the US, beyond its start-up and SME core user base.

Feature real enterprise clients — Hertz, Uber, OpenAI, London Gatwick — on iconic OOH sites, so scale-minded businesses reappraise Stripe.

A phased, multi-million pound OOH push planned and bought by Wake The Bear across landmark sites — Waterloo Domination, Heathrow T5, Canary Wharf, Gatwick Domination, Clapham Colossus — plus major US cities including NYC and LA, under the tagline 'Make progress'.

Stripe's first-ever brand campaign. CMO Jeff Titterton tied the enterprise push to momentum: more than 100 companies now each process over $1 billion in payments annually on Stripe.

In June 2024 Stripe launched its first brand campaign, a transatlantic out-of-home push designed to show businesses of every size the breadth of its products. The target was enterprise: companies under pressure to grow, innovate and transform, addressed with the tagline 'Make progress'.

The creative device was reappraisal by association. Instead of explaining payments plumbing, the first series put famous Stripe clients on billboards — Hertz, Uber, OpenAI and London Gatwick — chosen to challenge the pre-existing perception of Stripe as an SME-only solution. Sites were hand-picked for spectacle and scale: the Waterloo Domination, Heathrow T5, Canary Wharf, the Gatwick Domination and the Clapham Colossus in London, with placements across major US cities including New York and Los Angeles.

Media planning and buying sat with Wake The Bear, whose managing director Lydia Mulkeen called venturing into brand advertising with a multi-million pound OOH campaign an act of trust and bravery. Stripe CMO Jeff Titterton framed the timing: established businesses were reinventing business models with new technology while startups monetised sooner than ever, and industry leaders were turning to Stripe at an increasing clip.

Stripe's core user base of startups and SMEs knew the brand, but enterprise decision-makers did not — awareness, not product, was the gap.

The client list was the argument: Hertz, Uber, OpenAI and London Gatwick are proof of enterprise scale that no claim in Stripe's own voice could match.

Landmark OOH sites broadcast the size of the ambition; a digital-only buy would have undercut the message that Stripe operates at infrastructure scale.

A phased approach let Stripe test the platform with one strong series before extending it.

When a brand outgrows its early-adopter image, its best proof is who already uses it: put real customers' names on the biggest walls available and let scale speak for itself.

The first series went live in June 2024 across London and major US cities, with Stripe signalling a phased continuation of the platform. The four featured clients — Uber, OpenAI, Hertz and London Gatwick — appeared on billboards, at airports and in public transit with their consent, and the campaign stood as Stripe's first brand advertising of any kind.