Mastercard sound card

Sonic Branding: Sound card for the launch of the new sonic identity from Mastercard

Mastercard launched a new sound logo in 2019, and therefore the Mastercard brand is no longer just visible, but also acoustically identifiable. That makes a lot of sense, of course, and the Audio Logo team is delighted with the financial giant’s multisensory marketing plans for a sound card order, which we received from the Vienna advertising and event agency Division 4. This was an invitation for the Austrian launch of the sonic brand, which was previously developed by Division 4 on behalf of Mastercard.

But what – and how much – is behind the Mastercard sonic brand? Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Mastercard and bestselling author, attaches great importance to the topic of a sonic brand: “If you develop a visual logo, you have endless material available. With sonic branding, however, a separate playbook has to be developed. We have to understand how much influence sound has on human emotions. ”

It took two whole years developing the new Mastercard sound concept. Participants included Mike Shinoda, founding member of the cult band “Linkin Park”, and musician Camila Cabello. Ultimately, through a lot of expertise and musical passion, a 30-second basic component became a 3-second core melody: the musical brand of Mastercard. Christian Rau, Managing Director of Mastercard Austria, said on April 24th, 2019 during the brand launch in Vienna: “Here and all over the world, Mastercard will in the future be associated with a melody – at all touchpoints where the card is used. This also ensures that the transaction goes securely over the Mastercard network on the soundtrack. ”The background to the Sonic Brand is that Mastercard wants to bind its customers more closely to the card.

Peter Legat, founder of the band “Count Basic”, also took a position on the topic during a panel discussion: “Music directly triggers our emotions. Every composer and sound designer knows this and of course plays with them. For brand messages, the following is important: the more stimuli that are awakened, the more present the brand becomes.”  Futurologist Christiana Varga also had a say during the event: “In times of advancing digitalization, people want to feel more with their senses again and feel real resonance.  Exclusive sound meets simple elegance: the sound-in-print card arouses emotions.”   The simple A5 landscape card we produced as an invitation to the Austrian sonic brand launch – with the Mastercard logo and a note on the front – plays the new sound automatically when it is opened. The date and location of the event are also briefly stated. Do you need more than that? We say no! Because the effect is developed by an understatement in text, and by the sound emitted of the sound logo. We implemented the card on behalf of Division 4 – more information is also available here: https://www.division4.at/projects/mastercard-sonic-brand-praesentation/