Qualcomm / Mobile Wallet — Building the Future of Payments
Building a startup brand is hard.
Building one before the product even exists is harder.
Qualcomm asked my team to help create the brand for SWAGG, a mobile wallet platform launching at a moment when the entire industry was racing to define mobile payments. Analysts projected the category would power $5 trillion in global transactions by 2020, with companies like Google, Apple, and PayPal competing to lead it.
My job was to help the product enter that race with a clear story.
First, the ecosystem.
Banks like Chase, Wells Fargo, American Express, and Capital One signed on alongside major retailers and point-of-sale partners.
Then the consumer.
Instead of waiting for launch, I took the product directly into culture.
At CES, we hosted a SWAGG VIP concert with Kid Rock at the Hard Rock Hotel, drawing celebrities like Khloe Kardashian and Kara DioGuardi and coverage from outlets including BizBash and the Las Vegas Review-Journal..
At SXSW, we partnered with Perez Hilton to present “One Night in Austin,” featuring Snoop Dogg, Courtney Love & Hole, Macy Gray, and Estelle.
And in the Hamptons, we created the SWAGG Mobile Lounge at the Bridgehampton Polo Challenge, giving guests a chance to experience the technology firsthand.
Across CES (170K attendees), SXSW (150K attendees), and press pickup through BizBash, PerezHilton.com, and broader entertainment and tech coverage—plus celebrity-driven social amplification—the program generated an estimated 150 million earned media impressions, representing roughly $3.75 million in earned media value.
By the time the product launched, the groundwork was already there.
Partners were signed.
Consumers had experienced it.
And the brand already felt like the future.
