Mastercard prepares for a post-text future
Mastercard chose CES to announce it was dropping the word ‘Mastercard’ from its logo.
“Reinvention in the digital age calls for modern simplicity,” said Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s chief marketing and communication officer, in a release. “And with more than 80% of people spontaneously recognizing the Mastercard symbol without the word ‘Mastercard,’ we felt ready to take this next step in our brand evolution.”
But why do it as CES? According to Mastercard, the change is not just about aesthetics, it’s about preparing for a post credit-card future. Michael Beirut of the design firm Pentagram, which led the logo change, told the Wall St. Journal that it was made with portable digital devices in mind. “You’re trying to optimize for a very small piece of real estate on a very small piece of glass,” he told WSJ. “It might not even be a mobile phone, it might even be a watch face. Having to work in a 10-letter name in that is kind of a monster.”
Mirror mirror on the wall…which hair colour is best for moi?
Cosmetics firm Coty has introduced the Wella Professionals AR-enabled Smart Mirror, which enables hair salon customers to experiment with real-time visualization of different hair colours, complete with 360-degree video capture (naturally, the images can be shared via social media). The mirror also employs facial recognition technology that allows for the retrieval of a client’s past looks and hair services.
Laura Simpson, chief marketing officer for Coty Professional Beauty, said that the Smart Mirror will enable hair professionals to take consultation with their clients to the “next level.”
Neutrogena
Health and beauty have emerged as key themes at this year’s CES, and J&J’s skincare brand Neutrogena has continued the trend with the introduction of its custom face mask, MaskiD. The 3D printed mask relies on the TrueDepth camera found in later-model iPhones to take a 3D image of users’ face in order to create a customized face mask.
Each single-use mask is divided into six zones (forehead, eye orbital, nose, cheeks, chin and nasolabial folds) with each zone capable of delivering one of five ingredients from the Neutrogena portfolio: Purified hyaluronic acid, which improves the skin’s moisture barrier; vitamin B3, which helps with discolouration, dull skin, etc.; feverfew, which helps minimize facial redness; and stabilized glucosamine, an exfoliant that reduces the appearance of fine lines.
Neutrogena did not disclose a price for the MaskiD, except that it will be “consistent” with other items in its skin care portfolio. It will begin selling the MaskiD to U.S. customers on Neutrogena.com beginning in Q3. Is it wrong that it makes us think of this?
