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Mastercard buys big on TV to start changing minds

New campaign looks to overcome brand perception problems

MasterCard MacLarenMastercard‘s new national campaign aims to remind consumers that its cards are accepted just about anywhere, which can have important implications.

The campaign, which will run for 10 weeks, was developed by the brand’s creative agency, MacLaren McCann. It’s Mastercard’s largest TV push in recent years, with the medium representing more than 70% of the media buy.

According to Nicole Avery, the brand’s vice-president of consumer and digital marketing, the brand looks at two objectives when deciding on media spending: if the goal is to drive or change behavior, it typically goes heavy on digital; but when the aim is to “create top-of-mind awareness” (which is the case with “Days That Change Everything”) TV makes the most sense since it has a larger reach.

“We know that a consumer, to change behavior, needs to see a communication up to seven times,” Avery explained. “Sixty-seven per cent of our target audience will see our ad over seven times. We’re very proud of that, and that was one of the reasons we wanted to go so heavy on TV.”

Mastercard consistently lags behind Visa in studies conducted by the brand that look at consumer perceptions, Avery said. The data suggests that people still believe Mastercard is not as readily accepted as its main competitor. The main objective is to squash that “complete misperception,” once and for all.

“Most people still in this day and age, think that our cards are not as accepted as our main competitor, and that is absolutely not the case,” said Avery. “We wanted to blow that myth out of the water.”

The 30-second TV spot, which is airing on both conventional and specialty channels and during heavily-viewed programs like The Big Bang Theory, The Amazing Race and Modern Family, depicts the love story of a young couple. Thanks to Mastercard, the man is able to buy the woman a bike she desperately covets. That purchase leads to a courtship, love, and eventually marriage.

The ad is specially tailored towards a younger demographic — Canadians in their 20s and 30s, who are in the midst of making significant life choices. “That’s why we landed on this love story and how powerful it can be, especially how one day can change everything when you’re in that age range.”

For the first time, the brand has invited four of its merchant partners to take part in the campaign. Loblaws, Walmart, Canadian Tire and Costco (which the brand partnered with last year after the retailer ended its relationship with American Express) each have unique end slates in the TV spot, showcasing their relationship with Mastercard.

Additional elements of the campaign include digital and social. Work like POS and OOH is slated to roll out in June around the Greater Toronto Area. The brand has also partnered with Xbox, Crackle, and TV Sync, a service that uses automated content recognition to detect a TV ad the instant it airs, and then synchronizes it with online systems in real-time.

Carat was responsible for the media buy, while Ketchum is handling PR. Armstrong Partnerships is tasked with POS marketing.

“Days That Change Everything” runs until the end of June.

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JET

Only one spot?

Monday, June 15 @ 8:12 am |

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