When Toronto barber Justin Radam booked appointments for 10 MasterCard cardholders in early March, they thought they were just going to get free “We the North” t-shirts.
But once in the barber’s chair at downtown’s In the Cut, out popped Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, who also surprised the clients with tickets to see a game from the MasterCard suite at the Air Canada Centre. It was all caught on video and has been on a variety of online platforms since March 24.
The surprise, which also included a party after the game attended by Lowry, was all part of Priceless Surprises, the latest strategic pillar of MasterCard’s hugely successful Priceless campaign, which began in 1997 and celebrates priceless moments in people’s lives around the world.
Since its launch in Canada just over a year ago, various Priceless Surprises campaigns have had more than 29 million online video views and have surprised over 12,000 MasterCard cardholders across the country.
“Surprises for us has been about enabling shareable priceless experiences and not just observing priceless moments,” says Milos Vranesevic, head of marketing at MasterCard Canada. “It’s about anything we feel can generate excitement and shareable moments is what we’re after.”
Previous efforts have included Justin Timberlake surprising two cardholders at a mini-putt in Montreal and supermodel Coco Rocha taking cardholders on a private shopping spree in Yorkville.
Though a few previous Surprises have had TV play, the campaign is primarily online, as is the case with the Lowry ad. The online presence is secured via YouTube, paid placement, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and by leveraging various channels of MasterCard’s partner Bank of Montreal, from social media to employee engagement.
“Digital proves to be the strongest channel for engaging our cardholders,” Vranesevic says.
MasterCard is using paid digital media promotion to drive clicks and views. “It’s worked quite successfully for us because we get to target the audience we know is engaging (with the campaign).”
The aim is to secure online placement that targets appropriate audiences, Vranesevic says. For the Lowry ad, “it’s not about making it available to people who aren’t really interested or passionate about sports or the Raptors.”
Vranesevic says with the Surprises campaign, Canada is one of the most successful markets for MasterCard in the world “in terms of how we get the videos to relevant cardholders and consumers and really ensure they have an opportunity to view. Our strategy is to make sure we’re getting maximized, efficient value for our digital dollar.”
The 29 million views to date “is incredibly impressive when you think about how strategic and focused you have to be about your buys and how the quality of the experience really needs to be so entertaining .”
Media relations is being handled by Ketchum Public Relations.
