Wallet talk: The messages of the cards we carry

New fintech players reject the gold-platinum-black 'ladder' in favour of statements more suited to younger consumers. It’s long been a cliché in the world of digital marketing that the future of brands is ‘in our pockets’, usually as a presenter holds up her smartphone to a congregation of tech evangelists. But what happens if we pay more attention to what’s in our other pocket – nestled next to our keys, loose change and a receipt for last Wednesday’s disappointing lunchtime soup?

News 9 years ago Unknown author

New fintech players reject the gold-platinum-black 'ladder' in favour of statements more suited to younger consumers.

It’s long been a cliché in the world of digital marketing that the future of brands is ‘in our pockets’, usually as a presenter holds up her smartphone to a congregation of tech evangelists. But what happens if we pay more attention to what’s in our other pocket – nestled next to our keys, loose change and a receipt for last Wednesday’s disappointing lunchtime soup? Open up a typical wallet and you will find yourself greeted with prime advertising real estate – a portfolio of credit, debit and bank cards, individually branded and accessed multiple times a day, each locked in competition for our custom and our attention, each personalised to our identity and circumstances. Few other spaces force us into such a repeated pattern of decision-making and brand choice on a daily basis. Even in the early days of mobile payment, our cards are still king: what they do and how they do them plays an immense role in shaping our everyday behaviours and patterns of consumption.