GIVING VISA A CHINA FACE

TitleGIVING VISA A CHINA FACE
BrandVISA
Product / ServiceCREDIT CARD
CategoryA03. Best Use of Standard Outdoor
EntrantOMD CHINA Shanghai, CHINA
Entrant Company:OMD CHINA Shanghai, CHINA
Media Agency:OMD CHINA Shanghai, CHINA

Credits

Credits

Name Company Position
Anna Chitty OMD Managing Partner
Mentor Zou OMD Business Director
Freddie Wong OMD Outdoor Business Director
Tony Lu OMD Planning Manager
Yuki Qiu OMD Planning Supervisor
Ada Pan OMD Outdoor Associate Director
Lydia Shen OMD Outdoor Associate Manager

Results and Effectiveness

Visa Brand Tracking results in Sep 2008 proved that: • Succeeding in giving Visa a China face, 30% of consumers now see Visa as being “accepted locally” versus 15% in the previous year. • 69% of consumers said Visa is most “accepted worldwide”, Master card is 2nd at 7%. • 47% believe that Visa is “the only card I need”, surpassing local government-linked player China Union Pay who is 2nd at 28%. Accolades from the local media: • “Visa lights up Beijing with Chinese Lanterns!” Jul 31 2008, Beijing Morning Post •“Visa provides tourists and locals an ideal environment to pay…” CCTV News

Creative Execution

• Through branded innovations and proximity targeting, all communications were creatively aligned to mimic Chinese symbols – and lent a helping hand to “our visitors”. • ‘Normal’ out of home formats were ignored, but Visa messages adorned traditional Chinese lanterns to light Beijing’s famous bar street, HouHai Jie; a space which provided respite for visitors with a cool drink and night life. Reflecting Visa as an entertainment brand, not simply a lifestyle enabler. • Airports carried pedestrian level lightboxes which used Chinese caligraphy not Arial Bold to stamp Visa with a strong local personality. • Travellers could race Liu Xiang, China’s favourite son to the end of the air-bridge … it looked fantastic, it was fun, and it was a media first for Visa. • Services were provided which reflected well both on Visa and China such as the Visa buggies for Visa Customers at the airport – Visa welcomes u to Beijing Olympics.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Objectives and Challenges: • As an International financial brand, success requires acceptance & endorsement from the local community, to build both brand recognition and trust to drive business … and in China, that means Chinese credentials. • The Beijing Olympics presented an ideal springboard for Visa to demonstrate their oriental credentials. • The challenge was to avoid being seen as a remote “laowai” brand that only foreigners use … and build relevance with the Chinese community • In other words, Think Global, Act Local! Strategy: • To act local, Visa had to be integrated and assimilated into the community, right down at the consumer level. • Outdoor furniture was a core component of the approach to meet the communication challenge.