CAPE TOWN – The launch of Mastercard’s latest product, its sonic brand, the firm’s responsibility to be at the front of innovation to ensure the brand remains the strongest and trusted brand around the globe.
This is according to Beatrice Cornacchia, senior vice president for marketing and communications for the Middle East and Africa at Mastercard, speaking to Business Report from Dubai last week, just ahead of the launch on Friday.
Mastercard, setting a new tempo for brand expression, debuts it sonic brand identity, a comprehensive sound architecture that signifies the latest advancement for the brand.
The news comes on the heels of the company’s recent transition to a symbol brand and is part of its continued brand transformation.
The Mastercard melody is the foundation of the company’s sound architecture and will extend to many assets, from musical scores, sound logos and ringtones, to hold music and point-of-sale acceptance sounds.
Cornacchia said as Mastercard is among the strongest and most recognisable brands across the globe, consumers are asserting to Mastercard attributes like trust, safe, secure and forward thinking which the company is extremely proud of.
“Every time that we create a new technology or a new product, or new tool we are clear in mind of what consumers are thinking and at the same time we are also conscious that our brand is playing an important role. And for this reason, we feel that it is our responsibility to be at the front of innovation and that’s why today we are here to launch the new frontier of our brand which is the sonic brand,” said Cornacchia.
Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard, said sound adds a powerful new dimension to Mastercard’s brand identity and a critical component to how people recognise Mastercard today and in the future.
“We set out an ambitious goal to produce the Mastercard melody in a way that’s distinct and authentic, yet adaptable globally and across genres. It is important that our sonic brand not only reinforces our presence but also resonates seamlessly around the world,” said Rajamannar.
Cornacchia said the transformation journey began in 2016 when Mastercard realised that the line between the physical road and digital road started to be blurred and so the touchpoint with the consumer dramatically increased as they were spending the majority of their time online.
“With the introduction of the new visual identity in 2016 and our most recent evolution to a symbol brand, we are continually evolving to meet consumers’ ever-changing needs while maintaining the simple, secure and seamless experience people have come to expect from Mastercard. The sound is our next frontier for brand expression and a powerful way for us to create an emotional and culturally-relevant connection with consumers,” said Cornacchia.
She added that the firm announced three weeks ago that Mastercard has become a symbolic brand.
She said that although that was a bold decision for the company, the value linked to the brand is much stronger now.
“The sonic brand is the new frontier. But why the sonic brand? As you know, the way in which consumers interact in this world, the physical piece of plastic is going to dramatically reduce. If you have your card on file you don’t even take your card to make your online purchase. So the touchpoint and the way to interact with your consumers change and that’s why we felt that the sonic brand was the best way to surprise and delight our consumers,” said Cornacchia.