Lessons from Mastercard on how to create a sonic brand identity

Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar shares lessons from the two-year process the payment brand underwent to create a sonic brand architecture.

If you look at the consumer today, how do they recognise a brand? They recognise a brand when they look at its logo.

The problem is that there is a visual overload: on average, it has been estimated that the consumer is bombarded with 5,000 commercial messages a day. They have learned to either tune those out, so they don’t even notice them, or they simply ignore them. I would do the same myself.

There is a narrower window, and a flood of information coming at consumers. In that situation, how do you stand out as a brand? There is...

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