Harvey and Mercury. Yes, they sound like golden retrievers from a park in Brooklyn. But they're actually two of the smartest brand plays happening in B2B right now.
One serves lawyers. One serves startup founders (and now for personal banking). Both operate in industries where trust is everything and differentiation feels impossible. And both have figured out that great design isn't decoration—it's strategy.
Let me show you what they're doing right.
Harvey: When Every Pixel Signals Trust
Harvey builds AI tools for legal professionals. Their customers work in environments where polish equals credibility. A clunky interface doesn't just annoy—it undermines trust.
So Harvey's design philosophy is simple: say more with less. They design the way lawyers write briefs—maximum clarity, minimum waste.
Three principles guide everything:
Design with domain awareness.
They built Review Tables that automate document organization while keeping workflows lawyers already know. No learning curve. No friction.
Make complexity feel effortless.
Their Workflow Builder lets you describe complex processes in plain language. It translates your words into structured workflows in seconds. Sophisticated backend, simple frontend.
Design with intention.
Every AI output includes citations, sources, and a clear paper trail of reasoning. Lawyers can verify everything. No black boxes.
This summer, Harvey launched their first OOH campaign: "You didn't get into law to push papers. Set a new precedent."
It's not about features. It's about aspiration. About focusing on work that matters. That's brand thinking.
Mercury: Banking That Feels Extraordinary
Mercury's campaign video opens with hand-painted brushstrokes animated onto parachutes and cliffs. The narration? Their founder speaking directly to other founders. Not a voice actor, because "what's more real than having our founder speak?"
That authenticity runs through everything.
And Mercury believes that banking should make you feel unstoppable.
“We believe evoking emotion through brand storytelling while still communicating what our product does is one of the hardest things in brand marketing. It can either lean too emotional and leave people wondering what the product actually is, or go too functional and lose that feeling you want to convey.” - Heather MacKinnon
Their strategy: Make founders feel unstoppable
Mercury doesn't just provide better banking tools. They provide inspiration, connection, and a product that makes you feel confident with your money.
They inspire dreams.
Their Spheres conference features successful founders sharing early-days stories. It's not product demos, it's possibility.
They curate connection.
Monthly emails aren't promotional. They're packed with tools, events, and useful info. They treat community like a product.
They raise expectations.
In a low-trust industry, Mercury is delightful. Clear. Additive, not extractive. Half their customers found them through word-of-mouth. That doesn't happen by accident.
Brand extends beyond marketing
Here's what Mercury really gets: "Customer support can reset how people think about brand. One poor experience can ruin all the goodness that product or marketing has done."
They're exploring AI to help support agents communicate in Mercury's voice, not replacing humans, but enhancing consistency. Because consistency across every touchpoint is what creates emotional connection.
Their "More Than Banking" campaign (created with Instrument) captures this: warm instead of transactional, refined typography, structured grids that signal precision. It's designed to evolve over time, not just a moment, but a system.
That sense of realness extends beyond campaign storytelling—it’s embedded in how Mercury has grown from the very beginning. “Our growth has largely been organic,” MacKinnon says. “Any savvy marketer knows that means smart SEO, solid brand campaigns, press, and social. But there’s also been a huge word-of-mouth component.”
What This Teaches Us
Both companies operate where most competitors won't invest in design and brand this way. That's the opportunity.
Three takeaways:
Clear positioning from day one. If your founder has a sharp POV, use it. Harvey and Mercury didn't wait to be "big enough" for brand.
Solve emotional needs, not just functional ones. Features keep you competitive. Making people feel confident, unstoppable, or masterful? That makes you irreplaceable.
The experience IS the brand. You can copy Mercury's features. You can't copy the feeling of using it. You can build AI tools like Harvey. You can't copy the trust they earn through transparent design.
The real lesson?
In conservative, low-trust categories, brand isn't fluff, it's your most defensible advantage. Product features can be copied. A well-designed identity and ecosystem built around it takes years and can't be replicated.
When you're ready to make design your differentiator, start with one question: What feeling do you want your customers to have?
Then design everything (product, marketing, support, community) to create that feeling. Consistently. Until it becomes what you're known for.
That's how Harvey and Mercury are winning. (And yes, they'd both make excellent dog names too.)
What brands are nailing design and storytelling right now? Hit reply, let's talk.
Oh, and forward this to your lawyer friend to see if they are using Harvey?
Circle Back with y’all soon. 🚀
