Visa’s New Look Is Everywhere
Visa is everywhere. And now it looks a bit different. The change is not dramatic, but it is how a global brand embraces the digital future.
In a company news release (Business Wire), Visa states it is “inviting the world to meet Visa. The cynical storytellers have pounced, but we should all learn from Visa’s logo change.
First, Visa simplified its logo. They dropped the gold from the logo serif. This simple change makes it easier to see on small screens and even smaller ads. Second, the company refreshed the color palette for more “digital impact.” Third, Visa retained an easily recognized look but turned the look into a brand symbol that is now used throughout all marketing materials. And finally, Visa adopted a global brand line. In the US, we are all familiar with the line (Everywhere you want to be), but now it will be used globally and through all their business entities.
The new logo mark is going flat, making it easier to translate to all media, especially digital executions. Yet, even though it is a change in look, it is evolutionary and leverages 60 years of brand equity.
Visa is making a change we should all make. Go digital, prepare for a broader economy and be ready everywhere your customers, stakeholders, patients, and donors want to be.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.