Posted by Mark in 
The current economy has sure taken a toll on consumers as credit card late payments reach record high. According to a report by The Fitch Ratings it is estimated that the chargeoffs will approach nine percent during the second half of 2009. More people are depending on their credit cards since they don’t have the cash to pay for their needs and in turn are ending up racking up debt which consumers end up not paying. When it comes to credit cards and the way the economy is going the picture certainly isn’t looking very pretty.
Life Takes Visa Out, More People Go With Visa In
VISA, the leading credit-card and financial services company have dropped their slogan “Life Takes Visa” and have implemented a new slogan – More People Go With Visa. The company will debut a new ad campaign based around this slogan. The new ad campaign comes less than six months after the company went public. The last time Visa dropped their slogan was in 2006 during the winter Olympics when the slogan “It’s Everywhere You Want To Be” was replaced by “Life Takes Visa.”
One of the reason Visa has decided to change the slogan is due to the failing economy. Credit card companies are feeling the effect of the recession and these companies want people to use their debit cards to purchase their daily needs. This probably is one of the prime reasons for Visa’s new ad slogan and the reason for rolling out new ad campaign. The new ad campaign will focus more on day to day life rather than the ad campaigns in the past which showed visa being used for life time purchases such as going on a cruise or going to the Olympics, etc.
Credit in today’s economy has become a curse word. No one wants to get deeper into the financial hole than what they already are. People want to stop using credit cards and rely more on their savings and cash on hand if they have any. This is the reason for Visa’s new global ad campaign which will portray its inclusion in day to day life rather than a once in a lifetime purchase as the ads in the past have been.
Change In Strategy : Credit Cards Vs. Debit Cards
It is said that the ads will focus less on credit card and more on debit cards. Visa has implemented this strategy because they want to pull in money through a different approach than what it has been in the past. In the past the main focus was to earn through consumer debt but now that the economy is bad and more consumers are ending up not paying the minimum payments, the strategy is to earn money from the stores. When people use debit cards, unlike credit cards they are using their saving or what they already have in their bank. Although Visa doesn’t get to charge an interest rate on a debit card it still gets to make money through merchant fees and of course ATM uses. All in all taking this approach will put Visa in a better position as people don’t go in debt and they still make money through merchant fees, ATM fees and such.
Visa’s new global ad campaign includes both TV and digital ads. The ads will show the convenience of using a VISA card compared to cash or check. The TV ads will launch on March 4th 2009 on Fox’s American Idol. One of the ads is called “aquarium” which shows a father and a daughter’s visit to an aquarium. Ads that focus more on day to day life.
Utilizing The Social Web
TV and print ads are traditional methods of advertising and educating public of their services. Visa has now teamed up with Flickr and have entered the social media space. Skittles recently changed their entire strategy to go with social media and have integrated Twitter and Facebook as the main page of their site. When we checked the site yesterday they had a twitter search page up and today it’s Facebook and we are sure they will be including other platforms as well. Visa has now stepped into the social media space as well with what they call “Gosaic” collection of images submitted by people through Flickr along with recommendations from them about experiences that can be enabled through a Visa card.
Using social media strategy is in Visa’s favor since they are not the only big brand using social media to create awareness anymore. The “Gosaic” will also allow Visa’s customers to see what purchasing options are available online. This will help feed the database with customer behavior information. Sweet. The digital assets of the campaign also include media banner ads with live video feeds of people using their cards in six major cities around the world. Another set of banner ads will use Google Maps functionality to deliver local merchant recommendations based on user preference and time of day.
All in all it seems like the slogan fits right with Visa’s new marketing strategy. The new ad campaigns and use of Flickr, Google and other social media platforms might certainly give them an edge when it comes to making more people “go with Visa.” The new ad will feature on March 4th while millions of Americans will be watching their favorite show – American Idol.
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[...] Weak Economy Forces Visa To Change Its Strategy | Applicant – The … By admin The current economy has sure taken a toll on consumers as credit card late payments reach record high. According to a report by The Fitch Ratings it is. Applicant – The Advice Bank – http://applicant.com/ [...]
What aquarium was the ad shot at? We would like to visit.
Weak Economy Forces Visa To Change Its Strategy | Job Search Tips and Advice – Applicant – A Guide To All Things Careerthank you for share
Nice great info here, i will post it on facebook
Wow, what a huge amount of informations on Visa cards, I would definitely recommend this article to everyone with or without a Visa card.
http://www.bank-ratings.net
I checked other pre-paid card charges and these had been fairly competetive.
You made some decent points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your website.