Q&A:Visa Aims for Gold

Visa has long focused on sports sponsorships as a part of its marketing playbook. Its core roster of partnerships includes a new extension of its long-time deal with the National Football League through 2014, the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, an arrangement that began with the 1986 games and recently renewed to run through 2020.

In the ramp up to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Visa is taking its “Go World” campaign truly global after successfully launching it in the U.S. for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Jennifer Bazante, the head of global brand marketing at Visa, talks about the value of these relationships.

CHIEF MARKETER: What is your overall view of Visa’s sponsorships?

JENNIFER BAZANTE: The sponsorships have helped us build our business over time. They are fantastic opportunities that we can extend to our banks that issue Visa cards and merchants that accept Visa. In 2008 in Beijing, we had 573 clients in 41 countries pick up the Beijing assets and run promotions directly for their customers.

CM: Do the deals offer more than they have in the past?

BAZANTE: We try to make sure the investments allow us to reap the benefits most beneficial to the brand. There may be things we no longer want or things that we ask for in return. It’s a constant evolution.

CM: How do you determine the ROI?

BAZANTE: We have a fantastic database that shows how we’ve been able to use the properties to drive our business. We’ve been able to look at the impact over certain time periods on the business driving transactions and volume. And from a messaging standpoint, we evaluate the results on an ongoing basis.

CM: Are you doing anything new in digital?

BAZANTE: Digital was a component in Beijing and will be an important component in Vancouver. For example, we have a microsite that allows consumers to engage more closely with the athletes’ stories.

CM: How does the focus on athletes drive business?

BAZANTE: It allows people to get up close and personal. It makes it real. Those types of things provide engagement, and we have specific things such as merchant offers and promotions that drive our key messages and help reinforce the Visa brand in consumers’ minds.

CM: Is there a mobile component?

BAZANTE: There is. It will be associated with a lot of the same content provided on the microsite and our other digital efforts.

CM: What’s new about “Go World” this time around?

BAZANTE: It was successful for Beijing in 2008 but it only ran in the U.S. Now it’s a great framework that allows marketers in places like Japan, Korea, Canada, Russia and a couple of countries in Latin America to tap into local athletes, and their fan bases make it highly relevant in each local market.

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