In the past few months, I have seen many articles on Mastercard’s rebrand and innovative marketing activities. Much how Apple’s logo is simply a bitten apple, Mastercard has decided to drop its name from its logo, symbolizing the shift of card-less transactions that are currently being experienced around the world. After testing this strategy for almost two years, Mastercard found that a whopping 80% of people could identify their logo without the name. Having been a major player in the transaction industry for decades, it’s not that surprising to have that much brand recognition, but still a gutsy move nonetheless.
My take is that Mastercard is simply showing consumers that they’re able to adapt quickly, especially in a world full of Apple Pay, cryptocurrency, blockchain, Paypal, and other payment transaction products that are rapidly being adopted.
Recently, Mastercard unveiled a new “sonic logo” (aka a jingle) as part of their Sensory Lab, which is supposed to reinforce their brand anytime someone interacts with it. Wanting to add more “dimension” to their updated brand identity, and also get ahead of the curve when it comes to voice search.
I look forward to seeing how Mastercard’s rebrand takes shape over the next few months and what new innovation they plan on bringing to the financial and technology sectors. I also cannot wait to see the response from big competitors such as Visa, American Express, and Discover and what they intend on doing to update their brand strategies.
