Influencer Q&A: How @Visa uses Periscope and video on Twitter to instantly reach consumers

Tuesday, 7 July 2015

@Visa is everywhere consumers want to be — including on Periscope and Twitter, where it regularly engages users during everyday and cultural moments in fresh, meaningful ways. We spoke with Lara Balazs, head of North America marketing at Visa, to find out more about how Twitter and its tools fuel the brand’s creativity.

@TwitterAds: What drives you to use Twitter?

@LaraHBalazs: That rush of oxytocin I get when I look at my Twitter feed.

@TwitterAds: When did you first see value in Twitter for your brand?

@LaraHBalazs: I thought Twitter was incredibly compelling early on. As a marketer, the simplicity of 140 characters and the idea of going across borders — there’s perfect synergy there for @Visa. @Visa is everywhere you want to be, and Twitter is everywhere you want to be. Twitter absolutely fulfills our brand promise.

@TwitterAds: How does @Visa use Twitter?

@LaraHBalazs: One way we use Twitter is to connect with consumers around cultural moments and cultural ideas, whether it’s celebrating Olympic athletes, sharing how we’re supporting consumers in Rwanda that are underbanked or reacting in real-time to a historic decision.

Recently, we have been promoting Visa Checkout, our new easy way to pay online. It’s so easy you can make payments with one hand. Around the Super Bowl, we showcased how simple Visa Checkout is by showing Odell Beckham (@OBJ_3) catching passes with one hand from Drew Brees (@drewbrees) while making a purchase. Together they broke the world record for the most one-handed passes in a minute. We shared the moment on Twitter using video:

That day, the stunt became the number one trend in the U.S. and the number two trend worldwide. When you’re trending, you know that you’re relevant, that you’re compelling and that you’re breaking through to consumers, because they care about your Tweet enough to share it.

@TwitterAds: We’ve seen @Visa activate on Twitter around everyday moments as well.

@LaraHBalazs: Absolutely. We want to be on Twitter for both. At Visa, we understand that our consumers use us every day, and we know that people also use Twitter every day. We engage them there by sharing everything from contests to special offers, like free movie tickets for cardholders.

@TwitterAds:@Visa’s Twitter feed really comes alive with video. What do you like about the medium?

@LaraHBalazs: Video on Twitter has been a great way to connect with consumers. It’s such an effective way to communicate. It captures people. The days of loading a lot of copy into marketing communications are over.

@TwitterAds: How does Twitter fuel Visa’s creativity?

@LaraHBalazs: Twitter fuels our creativity because it constantly brings new platforms to us. For example, Periscope got us to think about things in a very visual way. We were one of the first brands to use it, and we used it during the NFL Draft. We asked NFL athletes to use our new digital products, including Visa Checkout, and we Periscoped the action from the Draft.

It was fantastic. The impact of using Periscope was not only did we connect with our consumers, but we were seen as an innovative brand.