Mercado Pago is the first digital payment service in Latin America.
As part of their launch, they asked for a Sonic Identity that would compliment their visual brand and create a stronger, multi sensory communication.
Mercado Pago’s sonic identity was built around the brand’s most essential values:
→Simplicity
→Innovation
→Security
→Closeness
→Digital
This piece sums up Mercado Pago’s Sonic Identity and shows how the brand tune, Sonic Logo and Transaction Sound work together to provide the full panorama of sound identity.
Each element of this Sonic DNA is strategically anchored to an essential brand value:
→ Samples and instrumentation relate to urban music, the target’s preferred genre.
→ Has a firm, steady pulse that conveys safety and reliability.
→ Feels like you’re in the presence of something new, innovative and exciting.
→ All instruments play very simple lines, creating a dynamic ecosystem, like the app itself.
→ Use of human vocals, featuring voices similar to our target (feels familiar and friendly).
→ Sound textures evoke the digital world, reminiscent of the mobile world we live in.
Mercado Pago is focused on experiential branding. The idea emerged to create a Sonic Logo made of two parts (an opening and a closing) that frames a user’s experience and compliments the visual logo.
Creating a library based on the brand’s strategic values is essential to companies producing a large number of audiovisuals like YouTube tutorials, Instagram stories, Facebook videos, podcasts or any piece which hasn’t been allocated a specific sound budget.
The benefit? Having a mix of musical elements to combine in new ways lessens the need to repeat the same song in every instance. This brings flexibility to Mercado Pago’s Sonic Identity, allowing expressions in various genres without losing its essence.
Here, entirely different messages are used since these users are merchants who charge — not buy — through Mercado Pago. To customize the sound, an additional note was attached at the end, representing the “Point” added to “Mer-ca-do-Pa-go”.
This note is supported by the sound of a cashier machine, referring to the extra money made by adopting Mercado Pago as payment means. From the musical standpoint, the added note is an octave above, which makes the melody more impactful and adds a sensation of exponential growth.
Just like a Style Guide defines colors, fonts and applications of a brand’s visual identity, the SoundBook presents the guidelines of sonic identity. Company representatives can use it as a reference to make creative decisions on the brand’s sound. Mercado Pago’s SoundBook was delivered to the brand representatives a month after the launching of the campaign.