MasterCard Plansbook by Claire Ballay

MasterCard: Creative Strategy Campaign by Title IX

Table of Contents Executive Summary....................................................... 2 The Problem................................................................... 3 Critical Factors.............................................................. 4 Recommendations & Logical Reasoning...................... 7 Expected Outcomes & Conclusion............................... 9 Appendices................................................................... 11 References.................................................................... 12

Executive Summary The Problem In 1966, a group of bankers joined together to create an association that would later become known as MasterCard6. In 1997, after many years of innovation on both global and national fronts, MasterCard launched its award-winning “Priceless” campaign. This campaign brought MasterCard a great deal of success when it was a novel concept. The problem is there is now debate as to whether a revamped “Priceless” campaign is still beneficial to the company. Since the “Priceless” campaign is over a decade old, the MasterCard brand might benefit from a newer, fresher creative direction.

Recommendations & Logical Reasoning This plan offers two recommendations for the creative strategy. Each option includes an advertising objective, creative tactic and message strategy. The advertising objective of Option 1 is to improve brand attitude while Option 2 seeks to increase brand awareness. The creative tactic for Option 1 involves a transformational approach whereas Option 2 focuses on top-of-mind awareness. Both options employ the Ego message strategy by appealing to emotion. In addition, this section also outlines the strengths and weaknesses of both choices.

Producing a sound creative strategy is vital because it gives MasterCard the opportunity to connect to their audience in a unique and authentic way. This connection can help the company more easily reach its target and convince the audience to either continue to use or switch to MasterCard.

Expected Outcomes and Conclusion Ultimately, we chose the “Little Things” campaign because we believe it is the most effective of both options. This campaign will achieve three (3) things: • 85 percent brand awareness • Top of mind awareness among the target audience • An emotional connection between the brand and the target audience With this strategy, MasterCard will see an increase in market share.

Critical Factors

There are several factors both internal and external that should be taken into consideration when determining the creative strategy. The internal factors MasterCard can control, but external factors must be carefully examined and utilized to the company’s benefit. By understanding this component, we will have a better grasp of our target audience, strengths and weaknesses and position in the market. Internal factors include budget, product, company culture and advertising and promotion history. External

factors include competition identification, the previous creative exploits of the competition and the target audience.

The Problem MasterCard’s “Priceless” campaign has been active since 1997, making viewers laugh and smile at moments everyone can consider priceless. While the campaign has brought the company much success in the past, a concern exists that the concept may have lost some of the novelty and uniqueness it once had over a decade ago. The main issue at hand is whether or not “Priceless” can be revamped and presented at a different angle or if the company needs an entirely new direction for its creative concept. By producing a carefully constructed creative strategy, MasterCard has a better opportunity to target the correct audience with a relevant concept and create a lasting effect on consumers’ credit card choices. Once a good creative strategy is achieved, the company can accurately persuade, inform or remind consumers of their product and portray a positive image of the brand. In addition, without an effective creative strategy, competitors can infiltrate MasterCard’s consumer base and achieve dominance in the market.

Critical Factors Before creating any creative advertising campaign, it is crucial to take into consideration several critical factors because they will ultimately determine the final course of action. MasterCard – The Company (Internal Factors) These factors relate to the internal aspects of the company, which MasterCard can control. Budget First, it is important to take into consideration the $250,000 million budget5. This will determine how much money can be spent on each aspect of the campaign and which creative options are feasible from a monetary standpoint. Product The product itself is also a vital factor. Important questions to ask include: • What are the important aspects of the product? • Why does the consumer use the product? • How does the consumer use the product? These factors provide insight for appealing to the target audience in a way that is relevant to its relationship with the product. Company Culture It is also imperative to take into account the company culture. MasterCard promotes innovation, safety, philanthropy, transparency and economic growth as well as its image as the “heart of commerce”4, 6, 7. The creative strategy must be consistent with these qualities to appear trustworthy and believable to the consumer. In addition, these qualities might be highly valued by a particular audience and provide a good selling point or consumer benefit on which the campaign can focus. Advertising and Promotion History Finally, it is crucial that the creative strategy take into consideration MasterCard’s advertising and promotion history. “Priceless” and “Little Piece of Plastic” are good examples of MasterCard’s previous campaigns7. MasterCard also maintains several partnerships and promotions. These past choices are important factors because they can either provide a strong platform on which to build a future campaign or serve as an educational experience about what not to do.

External Factors These factors relate to the external environment of the company, which MasterCard cannot control.

The Competition First, it is important for MasterCard to identify its competition. Market share information, as of 2012, reveals MasterCard has a market share of 14.1 percent, while Visa and American Express have market shares of 26 and 15.6 percent, respectively (see Appendix 1)8. By identifying these competing brands, MasterCard can understand where it is in the marketplace and what strategy is necessary to overcome said competitors. Knowing where we stand in the market is also important because it allows us to know how much of a risk can be taken with the creative direction. Next, it is vital to consider the creative exploits of these competitors. This way, MasterCard can either choose to compete directly with their creative message or find a way to differentiate by opting for an alternative approach. Previously, Visa’s creative messages have included the “Life Takes Visa,” “A New World,” and “Go with Visa” campaigns as well as sweepstakes and partnerships with the NFL, Olympic Games, NASCAR and FIFA4. American Express has the “Don’t Leave Home Without It” and “My Life. My Card” campaigns, which utilize an extensive arsenal of celebrity endorsements. Both companies also utilize social media platforms, as well as other tactics, such as product placement. Target Audience The most vital factor in the design of a creative strategy is the target audience. Without determining a target audience, there is no way to properly tailor the creative message. Without a tailored creative message, the risk of not reaching the target becomes higher, which is the ultimate goal of the creative campaign. This, in turn, affects sales and market share. Data reveals that the optimal target audience for this campaign includes all credit card users male and female ages 35 and older11. This segment provides an audience of approximately 1.57 million people13. Research shows that television and the Internet are both wildly popular with this audience11. They also consider themselves social media users. While outdoor and radio are also popular, television and the Internet are much better options. Channels prevalent among this target are The Golf Channel, HGTV, TCM, CNBC, AMC, ESPN2 and Food Network. They also subscribe to premium cable services, such as HBO and Showtime. Tables 1 and 2 include information regarding the demographics and psychographics of this audience. In categories with more than one result, results are listed highest to lowest according to index number.

Target Audience Specs Table 1

Table 2 Travel Family Restaurants & Steak Houses

Family Restaurants Most Visited

Demographics11

Race Education Employment Status Marital Status HH Income Parent or Guardian? Number of children

White, Asian Some college to graduate degree Employed full time (30+ hours), retired Presently married $45,000 to $499,999 Yes Two, four, one

Psychographics11

Yes, domestic and foreign Yes

Marie Callender’s, California Pizza Kitchen, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, P. F. Chang’s China Bistro, Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Papa Murphy’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruby Tuesday

Movie Attendance (last 30 0-3 times days) Foreign language/independent, documentary, drama, romantic Movie Genre comedy, action/adventure, comedy, family, Live Performance Live theater, concert, dance performance Trustworthy, reliable, kind, sincere, organized, diligent, openSelf Concepts minded, amiable, benevolent Theme Parks (last 12 mo) Yes Vacation Activities Golf, tennis, fine dining, snow skiing/boarding, shopping

The target audience “agree[s] a lot” with the following attitudes11: Family life is the most important thing to me. How I spend my time is more important than how much money I make. It is important to respect traditional customs and beliefs. I’m very happy with my life as it is. It is important to be well-informed about things. It is important to continue learning new things throughout your life.

Recommendations and Logical Reasoning Recommendation 1: “Still priceless” MasterCard’s “Priceless” campaign has been extremely effective, having “galvanized the brand, providing energy and vitality within the credit-card association and its constituencies of member banks, merchants and consumers” throughout its 16-year span, according to Brandweek5. But because MasterCard’s market share has been steadily decreasing (see Appendix 1), we feel that the “Priceless” campaign is no longer as effective as it once was. To solve this problem, the underlying goal of our first recommendation would be to change and improve brand attitude among our target audience. To positively affect brand attitude, we will reach our audience with a transformational creative tactic, appealing to the target’s emotions. This means our advertisements will focus on creative elements that elicit emotion, such as sound, words, music, pictures, color, movement and source. We chose this creative tactic based on the previous success MasterCard had in appealing to consumer emotion. In other words, we suggest playing off of the brand’s past success. In doing so, we hope to achieve 75 percent positive perception among our target audience. Additionally, credit cards are high-involvement investments. Knowing this, we would employ the Ego message strategy, which parallels with the emotional aspect of the new campaign. Using the Ego strategy will appeal to the target audience’s image-based appeal and center around experiences. We would create a strong emotional attachment to the Master Card brand, making the audience feel personally connected to our advertisements and, in turn, improve brand perception. After gauging its success, we suggest continuing the “Priceless” campaign as our first recommendation. However, its long run in the market has eroded the strength of the campaign; revamping it is imperative. Based on our knowledge of the MasterCard brand and its history in the market, the theme of the refurbished campaign would be “Still Priceless.” The advertisements would convey the idea of taking life’s purchases and making them experiences, which still incorporates the “Priceless” premise. The tone of this creative approach would be sincere and passionate with occasional humor. The ultimate goal would be to get our consumers associating good feelings with priceless moments that will translate to the MasterCard brand. We would use a wide variety of media while increasing our presence on social media platforms, which we are currently underutilizing. This creative campaign recommendation would hold true to the MasterCard brand, sending the same message to our target audience but in a revamped, refreshed manner. There is also international appeal in this campaign, as the message can be molded to fit cultures worldwide. Most importantly, this campaign appeals to our target audience as individual people, rather than simply consumers. However, by keeping the same foundation of the “Priceless” campaign, Master Card risks becoming outdated and unoriginal. There is also a collection of “Priceless” spoofs with negative connotations that exist on YouTube. These spoofs take away from the message strength and will likely continue even with the updated theme. Additionally, the credit card market is large, so if this revamped campaign is unsuccessful, MasterCard’s market share will continue to decline.

Recommendations and Logical Reasoning Recommendation 2: “Little Things” After a successful 16 years, the “Priceless” campaign may have reached its expiration. The campaign’s advertisements have been an incredible success but are, unfortunately, becoming redundant and unoriginal, thereby weakening the novelty appeal of the MasterCard brand. To overcome this deficiency, we intend to promote recall through our second campaign recommendation, drawing a close connection between the category need and the MasterCard brand. Because this campaign would be so new and different from the “Priceless” campaign, it is important to prioritize brand awareness as an advertising objective. We will be able to personalize our audience’s association with the brand and eventually achieve 80 percent brand awareness as well as top-of-mind awareness among our consumers. Overall, we must help our target audience understand our new brand identity so they are aware of our presence in the market. Initially we will promote recall, but eventually, we hope to achieve brand recognition once the campaign has been well-established. We will focus on how the MasterCard brand makes our target audience feel, and, as credit cards are high-involvement, ritual-based purchases on Taylor’s Six-Segment Message Wheel, we will employ the Ego message strategy. This will create a strong emotional attachment between MasterCard and our target audience, again increasing brand awareness. As a second recommendation, we suggest significantly changing direction of the brand’s campaign by focusing on increased brand awareness. We feel strongly about this based on MasterCard’s declining market share (see Appendix 1). To accomplish this, we would have to inform our target audience of the new brand message; in essence, it would be a re-entry into the market. The theme of this recommendation would be “There’s something about the little things.” Our advertisements would depict simple, small moments in time that could have significant value to our target audience, just as a MasterCard is small in size but has the capacity to bring about something great. Many of these ads would be family-centered, as our target audience consists largely of married parents11. We would capitalize on the social media opportunity, where we currently lack presence. This would help increase brand awareness. Our creative campaign recommendation is promising because we will be reestablishing our brand novelty. We will be updated and fresh, allowing us to inform our audience of the new MasterCard brand. This decision is partly based on data from interviews with our target audience in which one respondent said, “I like the priceless stuff but that gets old. It’s nice to see a new concept.” The campaign associates with our target audience and their traditional lifestyles11. Also, centering our brand message on joy and appreciation will create an incredibly positive image for MasterCard as a whole. Like the “Priceless” campaign, this “Little Things” campaign will connect with the target audience as people, not just consumers. However, we do run the risk of losing brand recognition among our target audience. The “Priceless” campaign has become a MasterCard staple so altering the brand message could be viewed as unauthentic. There will also be an initial lack of familiarity with the new campaign, which could be difficult to overcome and may lead to a further decline in market share.

Conclusion and Expected Outcomes

Conclusion Based on our understanding of the target audience, brand and objectives, we believe that “Little Things” will be the most effective campaign choice. It is original, emotionally impactful and relevant to the values and beliefs of our audience. This campaign will achieve three (3) things: • 85 percent brand awareness • Top of mind awareness among the target audience • An emotional connection between the brand and the target audience As a direct result, MasterCard will see an increase in its market share.

Creative Brief

The following creative brief outlines the specifications for the “Little Things” campaign. Objective Increase brand awareness of the new MasterCard and its new campaign among the target audience. Why? MasterCard has primarily used the same ad campaign since 1997. Over the past five years, their market share has continuously declined (see Appendix 1)8. The “Priceless” campaign is old and outdated; MasterCard needs a new image. The “Little Things” campaign can give MasterCard just that. This campaign is a fresh take on just how great the little things can be. Who? The target audience of this campaign is all credit card users (male and female) who are ages 35 and older. What do they think? Credit card users are tired of the old “Priceless” campaign. What would we like them to think? We want them to think that something small, like a MasterCard, can bring about something great. Creative Concept There’s something about the little things.

Creative Specs

Time Frame “Little Things” will run from February 2015 to February 2016 for an 11-month span. Since this is a new campaign, MasterCard must be careful not to overextend itself. After 11 months, MasterCard can assess the campaign’s effectiveness to determine whether or not it is sensible to continue. Throughout the 11-month period, MasterCard will use a variety of media at different times of the year to reach the target audience (see Appendix 4). Budget See Appendix 2. Media Choices Television, movie product placement, magazines (i.e. AARP The Magazine, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Better Homes and Gardens, Reader’s Digest), Super Bowl XLIX, and social media (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest Twitter, YouTube) Creative Ideas Super Bowl Ad – February 2015 One (1) 30-second ad depicting a father and son’s first fishing trip Social Media #littlethings (encourage social media users to share the little things they love) Print Advertisements One (1) ad per issue of several magazines Television Advertisements Two (2) ads per week during primetime with family-friendly themes similar to the Super Bowl ad Product Placement Two (2) placements per movie in eight (8) movies MasterCard Family Playday – June 2015 Big family event with fun, games and food in major city parks around the country (i.e. Central Park, Golden Gate Park and Lincoln Park) 10

Appendices Appendix 1

Appendix 3

Interview Results Question

Concept 1

Concept 2

How well do you believe this campaign conveys the main idea?

How well do you relate to this campaign?

How believable is the main idea of this strategy?

How unique do you believe this campaign is?

How relevant is this ad to you personally?

Overall, how would you rate this concept

Which concept do you prefer?

Total

Media

Television

Product Placement

119

Feb. 2015

Mar.

April

Appendix 2

13 5

139

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan. 2016

Magazine

Super Bowl

Social Media

Appendix 4

References AARP The Magazine (2013). Rates + dates 2013.Retrieved from http://advertise.aarp.org/ wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2012AARPMag_Rate_Sheet_50_12.pdf. 2 Adweek (2013). In their prime: Broadcast spot costs soar. Retreived from http://www.ad week.com/news/television/their-prime-broadcast-spot-costs-soar-132805. 3 Esquire (2013). 2013 advertising rates. Retrieved from http://www.esquiremediakit.com/r5/ showkiosk.asp?listing_id=4482266&category_id=19104. 4 MasterCard (2013). Corporate responsibility. Retrieved from http://www.mastercard.com/ corporate/responsibility/index.html. 5 MasterCard, Inc (2013). MasterCard Case Study. PDF File. 6 MasterCard (2013). Our company. Retrieved from http://www.mastercard.com/corporate/ ourcompany/about-us.html. 7 MasterCard (2013). Reaching MasterCard customers and consumers. Retrieved from http:// www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/whatwedo/reaching_customers.html. 8 The Nilson Report (2013). Market shares for U. S. card brands. Retrieved from http://www. nilsonreport.com/publication_chart_and_graphs_archive.php. 9 Pacific Magazines Pty. Ltd. (2013). Better homes and gardens: Media kit. Retrieved from http://pacificmagazines.com.au/Pages/Magazines/MediaKit.aspx?mid= 32075d1c-3915-455c-ab41-fd85f7645d02. 10 Readerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Digest (2013). Readerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s digest 2013 rate card. Retrieved from http://www.rd.com/ mediakit/pdf/rate-cards-2013/RD_2013ratecard_071613.pdf. 11 Simmons Market Research Bureau (2012). Simmons Choices3 (Spring, 2010) [Computer software]. New York: Simmons Market Research Bureau. 12 Sports Illustrated (2013). Sports illustrated rate card #71. Retrieved from http://simediakit. com/files/SportsIllustratedMag/Sports%20Illustrated%202013%20Rate%20Card.pdf. 13 United States Census Bureau (2012). Resident population by sex and age. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0007.pdf. 14 Visa (2013). Visa brings you. Retrieved from http://usa.visa.com/personal/visa_brings_you/ index.html. 1