Mastercard's new haptic logo is a stroke of branding genius – though it could be very annoying

Have you ever wished your credit card vibrated? Me neither. But global payment company Mastercard has debuted some exciting new technology that promises to change the way we pay for things. The upcoming feature will deliver a "unique vibration sequence", via your phone, presumably when a payment is accepted. The sequence was created in partnership with McCann, and will mirror Mastercard's sonic logo, debuted in 2019.

Now, I can't say that I can remember Mastercard's sonic logo off the top of my head (you can get a refresher via the video below), and I can't say that I massively like the idea of having my debit card vibrate at me to tell me that a payment's gone through. It could be one of those unnecessary annoying features – like having the self-service checkout welcome you when you've been waiting in line for ages and have heard it welcome about 20 people.

But what if it's not? What if it's actually a stroke of branding genius? What if it's one of those innovations that we'll be talking about in years to come, when we create lists like the best rebrands of the 2020s?

Mastercard revealed the new feature at Brandweek in Phoenix this week. In a post on LinkedIn, Mastercard's CMO, Raja Rajamannar shared that the move marks the next step in our "multi-sensory brand journey".

"Consumers are subject to constant stimuli across all five senses," he continues. "If brands are only communicating in two senses, they risk getting lost in a noisy world."

Raja explains more of this in his newsletter, explaining that just telling stories is potentially no longer enough, but that creating experiences that tap into multiple senses are likely to forge stronger connections that are "hard to ignore and even harder to forget".

According to AdWeek, the logo will initially launch in Latin America and Eastern Europe before being implemented in 50 million of the brand's point of sale outlets in a year's time.

The sequence will list 1.3 seconds and Mastercard claims that when it's present, it boosts consumer trust and makes customers 80% more likely to return to the merchant using the sound.

That suggests that if haptic logos are done correctly, they could represent a powerful new era of consumer/brand relationships. Although of course, there will be those who are annoyed by the vibration. Will it be enough to make them switch to a different bank card, though?

For more on branding, check out our Brand Impact Awards 2024 shortlist, which celebrates the best branding from around the world.