Safety, Convenience Remain Core Pillars Of Visa’s Brand Values: Sujatha V. Kumar

Visa’s recent ‘Pay Safe Everyday with Visa’ campaign has marked its second collaboration with brand ambassador Vicky Kaushal, emphasising the power of simple steps that can turn small moments into big celebrations. The ad campaign is one of Visa’s first campaigns that redefined its brand positioning, attaching more emotional value to the brand, in addition to its functional benefits of secure and convenient digital payments. 

In a quick confab with Sujatha V. Kumar, Head – Marketing, India and South Asia at Visa, she explains how the brand is deepening its emotional connect with cardholders and highlighting how important it is that every digital transaction be safe.

 Excerpts:

Q. Take us through your ‘Pay Safe Everyday with Visa’ campaign. What are the objectives that the brand is looking at?

The ‘Pay Safe Everyday with Visa’ campaign showcases Visa’s commitment to providing reliable and secure payment options for every transaction, every day. This campaign strengthens our emotional connection with consumers and portrays how simple steps with Visa can make the best happen. Partnering again with Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal, the campaign spotlights how Visa supports consumers as they create meaningful experiences while navigating life’s complexities, secure in the knowledge that they have a dependable partner in us.

Each transaction on the Visa network is backed by 500 layers of security and top-class security measures, including tokenisation, robust fraud detection and round-the-clock monitoring. The ‘Pay Safe Everyday with Visa’ campaign assures consumers with the trust that their hard-earned money is safe when they choose to pay with Visa.

Q. How does the creative messaging and imagery align with the brand's values and positioning?

Safety and convenience are two core pillars of Visa’s brand values and principles. By emphasising these pillars, we aimed to elevate our brand image beyond functionality and infuse a sense of joy and satisfaction that resonates with our audience. By blending our commitment to customer safety and satisfaction, we developed three heartwarming ad films that showcase how Visa is helping consumers create unforgettable memories through secure digital transactions.

Each film features Vicky Kaushal and his friends in situations that many of us can relate to. In each scenario, Vicky chooses to pay with Visa without hesitation, turning mundane moments into special ones. These  relatable moments take our consumers down the memory lane of the cherished moments with their loved ones.

Q. How does Vicky Kaushal's personality align with the overall objectives of the campaign?

Vicky Kaushal is more than just a Bollywood actor; he’s a household name with widespread appeal among the diverse Indian audience. Despite his celebrity status, his effortlessly relatable and trustworthy qualities make him the ideal choice to emphasise the importance of safety in day-to-day digital transactions, particularly through our common lived experiences. With his ability to captivate and engage audiences, we were able to highlight that with Visa, it’s more than just a dip, tap, or click; it’s a small step that can make the best happen.

Q. What considerations were made to ensure consistency with the brand's overall communication strategy and what are the expectations from this campaign?

Visa has been at the forefront of providing payment solutions that enhance consumers' lives with maximum efficiency and security. From innovations like Tokenisation to Tap To Pay, the larger objective at Visa has always been to enhance consumers’ lives by being the best way to pay and be paid. Building on the foundation of our previous ‘Pay Safe with Visa’ campaign, ‘Pay Safe Everyday with Visa’ is a continuation of our enduring brand philosophy centered around building greater trust with our consumers while Visa is a part of their daily transactions online and offline.

Q. What does the media plan look like? Can you provide a ballpark split between traditional and digital?

The three ad films, conceptualised by Leo Burnett, will be showcased on television across English and regional language channels including GEC, news and sports among others, as well as during the Indian Premier League. It will also be available on various OTT platforms and digital media, including Visa’s YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X, to reach an audience of 500+Million. The media plan for the campaign has a 50:50 split between traditional and digital media. 

Q. How are you expecting a property as big as IPL, to give impetus to this campaign?

Ongoing events like the IPL garner widespread viewership and interest, captivating the Indian audience across months. We anticipate advertising during these to have a positive impact on the campaign’s visibility, allowing it to reach a broader audience. With a clear messaging strategy emphasising digital payment security, we are confident that the campaign will strongly resonate with online as well as offline audiences of all demographics. 

Q. How has Visa’s marketing strategy evolved in the past few years and how do you see 2024 panning out in terms of its marketing efforts?

At Visa, everything we do, including marketing efforts, evolves in tandem with our consumers' needs. Our past campaigns have been successful because our ultimate objective has always been to introduce innovations into the ecosystem, empower communities and simplify the lives of our consumers with a foundation of trust and security. 

Our marketing strategy this year will also focus on our team Visa athletes: champions in their own fields, Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu as they represent India at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Back in 2021, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, we had launched the campaign, ‘A Million Cheers’ with the aim of connecting with people across India and inspiring them to rally behind Sindhu during the Games. As the global sponsors of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, we have campaigns planned this year as well to unite our consumers through sports and encourage them to cheer for our athletes.

Soumya Sehgal Bhutani

BW Reporters Soumya is the Senior Editorial Lead at BW Marketing World. She extensively writes on the Indian media, marketing and advertising ecosystem in India.