To be a Lifestyle – Mastercard’s Ambition in Brand Evolution

To be a Lifestyle – Mastercard’s Ambition in Brand Evolution

DENG Wuyi   1155089216

On July 14, 2016, Mastercard introduced a new logo designed by Pentagram, which had aroused heated discussion even among non-users in China. Although most of these non-users were surprised by the cost of this redesign, the effect of this change was significant. The former logo had worked for 20 years since 1996, its change in 2016 not only means that the brand is going to change, but also implies how the brand is going to change.

Brand image in the past

Before the famous “Priceless®” advertising campaign’s launch, Mastercard was neutral in perception of consumers; in other words, its feature was hardly distinguished. But what “Priceless®” did was to transform it as a brand positioning. Having run in 51 languages in 110 countries, “Priceless” has been synonymous for Mastercard. Its slogan “there are some things money can’t buy, for everything else there’s Mastercard” (万事皆可达，唯有情无价) creates an emotional bond with consumers. The campaign stressed emotion appeals rather than materials, it made Mastercard daily, practical and civilian. 

Identity evolution

Raja Rajamannar, CMO of Mastercard, had declared Mastercard’s ambition in 2015, that it is to become a lifestyle brand. He also mentioned: “Our single biggest priority is how to make that happen.” In 2016, in order to get closer to consumer’s life, Mastercard emphasizes few aspects in branding evolution.

1.     Digitizing

With the launch of enhanced Masterpass, a global digital payment service, Mastercard introduced the new logo. The new logo applies flat design, which is widely used among high-tech and Internet companies, including Airbnb, Spotify, Storehouse, etc. During the period that Internet consumer group is rising, flat design becomes popular for it conveys the idea of simplified, comfortable and modern lifestyle. By changing its visual identity, Mastercard shows its inclination to further develop in digital area, since Mastercard itself has announced that this evolution is “for an increasingly digital world”. This inclination is apparently shown in its evolution video:

In this sense, the evolution has distinct target audience which is the new generation of Internet consumer group, has distinct depict of consumer’s lifestyle with the brand which is “simplified, modernized and optimized”. 

2.      “Mastercard”, no longer a “Card”

As it is suggested in the design of new logo, that the word “Mastercard” loses a capital letter “C”, Mastercard de-emphasizes the “Card” component, implicitly emphasizing the concept of a more services-oriented brand. (And that’s why I choose “Mastercard” instead of “MasterCard” in writing this essay) Mastercard is trying to promote cashless transactions via Masterpass, and also plans a future where we are not only cashless, but also cardless.

On its official website, Mastercard defines itself as a technology company. This means to expand the concept of Mastercard: it is no longer only confined to credit card.

3.     Experiential marketing move

The core of Priceless marketing is the idea that we value our experiences over possessions. Till now, Priceless campaign has run for two decades, and it also develops its new content in brand evolution. Priceless is trying to give consumers opportunity to create their own Priceless experiences instead of displaying the experiences in TV commercial. The goal is consistent – to deliver to them one-of-a-kind experience they can only get with Mastercard.

Two platforms, Priceless Surprises and Priceless Cities, both promote the longstanding of Priceless campaign. The “Surprises” range from digital downloads of songs to bigger “one in a lifetime experiences” such as being featured in a Broadway play. 

The latest example was on Grammy night, 2017, when fans of Mastercard were experiencing exclusive performances with artists like Anderson Paak as well as the opportunity to purchase rare vinyl records for $10.

Actually, what Mastercard has done and means to do is more than refreshing the image of a company; it is to transform its image from a credit card company to a lifestyle brand that offers payment technology. Its evolution is in accordance with the requirement of Internet era, but the effect remains unknown. Whether the evolution succeed or not takes time to prove.

Reference

Mastercard.  Mastercard Brand Evolution | Optimized for Digital Use. Retrieved from

https://www.Mastercard.us/en-us/about-Mastercard/who-we-are/our-brand-evolution.html.

Davies, Jessica. (2015). MasterCard’s new ambition: Become a lifestyle brand. Retrieved from

        http://digiday.com/uk/mastercards-new-ambition-become-lifestyle-brand/.

Akopyan, Manouk. (2017). MasterCard CMO Raja Rajamannar Details Grammy Awards And Masterpass Marketing Strategy. Retrieved from

http://www.alistdaily.com/strategy/mastercard-cmo-raja-rajamannar-details-grammy-awards-masterpass-marketing-strategy/.

Armin. (2016). New Logo and Identity for MasterCard by Pentagram. Retrieved from 
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_and_identity_for_mastercard_by_pentagram.php.