We have been following the truncation trend to single-letter branding symbols for some time now.
Visa appears to be heading in this direction with the relatively new V logo:
Based on trademark filings at the USPTO, it appears Visa began using this single-letter V logo by itself back in 2008 with the launch of a mobile app, but it also appears now that "Visa will no longer support the Visa Mobile Application as of September 23, 2011."
Another bit of interesting news, Visa was able to federally register the single-letter V logo, claiming an even earlier first use date, going back to 2006, two years before it appears to have begun using the V logo standing alone or separate and apart from this entire Visa logo:
Yes, that’s right, the specimen of use submitted with the Statement of Use supporting U.S. Reg. No. 3,446,502 shows no use of the V logo other than as part of the VISA logo shown above, so the Examining Attorney must have been persuaded that the yellow/gold accent on the leading V in the VISA logo was sufficient for the stylized letter V to create a separate and distinct commercial impression from the word VISA.
But that’s not all, now that Visa has fully embraced the truncation from VISA to V, it appears to be flirting with the brandverb trend as well with the new V.me branded digital wallet service to compete with PayPal, as noted by William Lozito over at Name Wire, the product naming blog.
Trademark types, do you agree that the single stylized letter V in VISA stands on its own?
Marketing types, do you think the V.me branding will become a successful form of brandverbing?