Mastercard:
Sonic Anthems
Following the global launch of Mastercard’s successful sonic ID brand campaign in 2022, Octagon’s long-time client engaged the agency to support efforts to further amplify awareness in Africa, including key Nigerian and South African markets. Octagon was briefed to help turn Mastercard’s mnemonic five-note brand melody into music that African audiences would stream and listen to outside of their Mastercard point of sale purchase experiences.
Decoding the opportunity, we identified two genres dominating youth playlists: Afrobeats, whose Spotify plays increased by over 550% between 2017 and 2023, surpassing 13 billion streams in a single year. As well as Amapiano, which surged by over 5,000% over five years to reach 1.4 billion streams in 2023. Embedding the Sonic ID within these movements authentically would encourage fast-tracked scale. Data from Kantar’s BrandZ database highlighted the benefits: brands with distinctive audio assets score 76% higher on brand power and 138% higher on perceived advertising strength.
The Idea
Position Mastercard and the brand’s sonic ID as similar to a record label. Commission two full-length tracks that incorporate the sonic ID into their hook lines: “Wami” (Afrobeats) with Nigerian artist Mayorkun, and “Amazwe” (Amapiano) with South African Sho Madjozi alongside Mthunzi and Sfundo Ndimande. Release them exactly like lead singles via Vydia, with videos, influencer build-ups, and a TikTok user-story challenge.
Execution
A ten-day writing camp held in Lagos and Johannesburg adapted the five-note sting into 110 BPM Afropop and 112 BPM Amapiano progressions. Producers LeriQ and Gemini Major led the sessions. We then conducted dual video shoots in Lagos and Johannesburg to produce short-form music videos, capturing a Lagos fan-meet storyline set in a local rooftop restaurant and bar, as well as a Gauteng road-trip love story, each featuring incidental and subtle tap-to-pay moments. We then achieved widespread native distribution through a multi-platform release via Vydia across major DSPs and artist toolkits. Additional short-form content was also seeded for launch and to maintain momentum.
Early Impact
Within five days of launch, “Wami” clocked more than 50,000 streams on Audiomack, while “Amazwe” debuted at #5 on Spotify’s “Made in South Africa” editorial playlist and landed on New Music Friday SA and 9-to-5 lists. Artist-led amplification across Mayorkun, Sho Madjozi, Mthunzi and Sfundo Ndimande’s channels delivered strong combined reach across Instagram, X and Facebook. All three major DSPs—Spotify, Apple Music and Audiomack—added the tracks to flagship Africa and mood playlists, validating the metadata-first release strategy.
