As it evolves from a credit-card company to one with greater emphasis on electronic payments, Visa is launching its first major re-branding campaign in 20 years. The company’s new tagline, “Life Takes Visa,” was unveiled yesterday by Susanne Lyons, executive VP and CMO, Visa USA.
The integrated marketing campaign underpinning the new banner will go public via a 60-second spot during the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Torino, airing Friday, Feb. 10 on NBC. Various 15- and 30-second spots, print, online and outdoor media will roll out later in the month.
“This campaign was developed around the theme of empowerment, emphasizing ways that Visa helps people get the most out of life,” Lyons said. “It celebrates active participation in life, and what it takes to experience it to the fullest.”
Asked why Visa chose to launch the campaign in the week after the Super Bowl, rather than during that high-viewership event, Lyons cited Visa’s 20-year sponsorship of the Olympic Games, as well as its category exclusivity via that role. The Games are also an “emotional platform,” she said, that relate strongly to the campaign’s themes.
The new emphasis on electronic payments comes as Visa’s product portfolio is shifting: its debit-card service accounted for $466 billion in 2005, about 42% of its $1.1 trillion in volume for the year. Consumer credit—once the company’s mainstay, accounting for nearly 90% of its volume 10 years ago—brought in $527 billion in 2005, nearly 48% of its volume for the year. Commercial credit, at $126 billion, was about 11%.
Visa has allocated a 10% increase in its 2006 marketing budget to support the new theme, Lyons said, most of which is initially allocated to media branding via print, outdoor and online. While TV spots are scheduled, they are a smaller portion of the overall spend than in previous campaigns. TBWA/Chiat/Day is Visa’s lead agency for media creative. Point-of-sale materials and partner collateral will appear in stores in coming weeks, supplementing Visa’s recent transition to a new logo treatment.
Sales promotions that leverage the new tagline are scheduled for Q4 2006, followed by a more comprehensive program in 2007. Agency support for the Q4 work has been determined but not yet announced. The assignments for 2007 are still under review, Lyons told PROMO.
“This re-branding process is evolutionary; it will take years for our partners and cardholders to adopt,” Lyons said. “But the ‘Life Takes Visa’ platform, combined with our updated brand mark and new card design, is flexible enough to speak to all aspects of our business—debit, prepaid, commercial, contact-less, mobile payment—and all those products and services we haven’t even dreamed about.”
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