Leading the global repositioning and identity redesign of one of the world’s most recognized brands.
Client: Mastercard
Role: Brand Strategist &
Group Client Director
Agency: Design Bridge and Partners,
New York
Year: 2017
I led Mastercard through a global repositioning and rebranding that would become the company’s most significant business transformation in its history.
Repositioning a brand is about cultural transformation. With Mastercard, which was ingrained in the global psyche as a financial institution, it was a big ask. I applied the Fire Maverick Method–a framework designed to guide the repositioning of Mastercard’s brand based on clarity (the “why”), course (the “how”), and connect (the “what”).
The refreshed brand was optimized for the digital world and future-proofed for continued evolution. It positioned Mastercard as a forward-thinking, people-centered technology company with a harmonized design foundation that conveys simplicity, connectivity, and seamlessness.While a dramatic expansion of regulation initially drove companies to restructure, it was a subtle, but more powerful paradigm shift in technology and consumer behavior that ultimately created the need for a fundamental rethink about WHY and HOW business was done and much deeper understanding of WHO companies were serving.
