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By 2019 Lazada, Alibaba's flagship platform in Southeast Asia since 2016, operated in six countries and aimed to serve 300 million shoppers by 2030. Earlier that year it had set out a vision to accelerate Southeast Asian progress through commerce and technology, and on 20 June 2019 it launched its first brand refresh in five years, since a tagline update in 2014.

Group chief executive Pierre Poignant said Lazada wanted to move beyond a transactional shopping platform to a lifestyle destination that could enable hopes, dreams and desires for sellers and shoppers. Group chief marketing officer Mary Zhou told The Drum that the old brand did not do the business justice after years of change, and that the company wanted to be more in tune with the region's positivity and passion about the future.

Inside Retail Asia reported that the identity, developed by Superunion Singapore, aimed for a more youthful, energetic and dynamic look, with a new heart logomark, typeface and colour palette. Wunderman Thompson Singapore created the campaign, Go Where Your Heart Beats, built on films following three people: a mother who turns to her passion for baking, an office worker who realises his dream of being a rock star, and a young woman who builds a nail-art career inspired by live-streaming.

The rebrand tied into Lazada's 'shoppertainment' strategy and seller empowerment efforts.

A heart is the most overused symbol in consumer branding, and pinning an e-commerce firm's identity to it is a stretch. But in a market of shopping bags and parcels, Lazada at least chose emotion over logistics, and the campaign gave the heart something to mean. Whether shoppers will think of it as a lifestyle destination rather than a cheap place to buy things is another matter.