With the rise of contactless shopping technologies, physical Mastercards are literally disappearing from people’s hands and wallets. This put the brand at risk of losing the experience people associated it with, so we embarked on a journey to bring the essence of Mastercard to sound.

The sound had to be hummable, memorable and pleasant; it also had to be flexible enough to span cultures, countries, genres and environments around the world–from a football stadium, to high-end events such as an opera.

With voice shopping set to hit $40 billion by 2022, audio identities not only connect brands with consumers on a new dimension, they are tools enabling consumers to shop, live, and pay in an increasingly digital and mobile world.

Mastercard‘s Sonic Identity is inspired by the brand and the people that bring it to life every day. It is not a generic corporate sound, but rooted in a Sonic DNA that is the manifestation of the brand‘s attributes and its brand purpose: Connecting everyone to priceless possibilities.

This cohesion is emphasized by layering different instruments while ensuring they don‘t fight for the listener‘s attention. The impact is then achieved by using tension and musical crescendos that reach a payoff. Like the circular motives used in Mastercard‘s visual identity, the main Sonic DNA is the central element to the brand’s Sonic Identity.

The Mastercard brand is present in over 205+ countries and territories around the world. Mastercard’s Sonic Identity was designed to be flexible across cultures, countries and genres, and all consumer touchpoints–from the local corner store to the world’s largest football stadiums. The breadth of the brand’s Sonic Identity creates an added layer of flexibility to live in harmony with the brand’s visual identity in a wide range of contexts.

Mastercard undertook a painstaking, two-year journey to develop it’s holistic sonic identity, enabling the brand to develop multi-sensory and profoundly emotional experiences across all its global, audible touchpoints.

At the core is its unique Sonic DNA–the brand‘s audible expression and source of exclusive musical ingredients that serve as the basis for all current and future Mastercard sonic assets–like the Sonic Logo, music, digital interaction, event, and a unique sonic signature for payment transactions. The Sonic DNA includes the main Mastercard melody which was designed and refined using neuroscience research and the consult of agencies and artists around the world to be hummable, recognizable and pleasant, as well as flexible across genres, cultures and countries.

Since its debut in 2019 Mastercard has created over 100 musical tracks across multiple genres including Classical, EDM to Jazz and Pop, and styles like operatic, cinematic and playful. To date over 200 unique sonic assets have been rolled out including watermarking glo bal and national advertising campaigns, the soundtracks for Mastercard‘s expansive global Priceless.com virtual and physical experiences platform, the soundscape for its Priceless New York restaurant, sponsorships, social impact initiatives and B2B and B2C product and services content.

In addition, Mastercard‘s sonic transaction sound–which has been proven in research to reinforce consumer trust in the safety and security of their transaction–has been rolled out to over 98 million retail, mobile, and web acceptance points globally.

In early 2020, Mastercard released their first-ever single “Merry Go Round“ by Swedish pop-artist Nadine further manifesting their commitment to connecting people to priceless possibilities.

Here are early results to show how Mastercard’s sonic branding is resonating with consumers:

Neuroscience research shows instant brand recall after a limited number of exposures to the Mastercard sound.

Digital transactions with sound were preferred 2-1 vs checkouts without sound by 66%.

Adoption of Mastercard checkout sound improves the experience 63%

Digital transactions with the sound provide 2X more confidence in completed and secure transactions and increased trust in Mastercard and the merchant.

Mastercard sound with digital transactions drives more digital transactions by 63%