MasterCard launches new ‘Priceless’ ad campaign

MasterCard International has launched a new execution of its award-winning Priceless national advertising campaign featuring the newly enhanced World MasterCard, a card program offering an innovative mix of customized incentives and rewards to mass affluent consumers. The campaign supports MasterCard's broader strategy to further increase its leadership position in the affluent market, a segment the new World MasterCard is uniquely designed to reach. The integrated ad campaign will span television, print and online media. The TV spot is set in a candy store. Instead of shopping for candy, however, consumers in the 30-second commercial are visibly impressed while browsing a wide selection of cardholder rewards they can choose from. The narrator in the ad cites the traditional three price points of rewards which are all $0. "Rewards that make you feel like a kid in a candy store: priceless," the narrator concludes. The spot communicates the self-selected rewards program of the World MasterCard, with which cardholders are free to choose from a wide selection of rewards based on their personal needs and interests. It also continues to position MasterCard as the preferred payment choice for everything that matters. "Every World MasterCard cardholder is unique, and only they know what is truly rewarding for them," said Amy Fuller, vice president, Brand Building, MasterCard International. "Cardholders deserve to be able to decide for themselves what matters most in their lives, and our new 'Candy Store' campaign shows them that the World MasterCard allows them to do just that. "World MasterCard is designed specifically to provide mass-affluent consumers with an unmatched combination of flexibility, customization, and acceptance, rather than a blanket offering of novelties and gimmicks that are all too often seen in the marketplace," Fuller continued. The mass-affluent category is defined as those earning more than $100,000 in annual household income, an increasingly sought-after segment in the payments space. By offering a rewards program based on four distinct categories - Personal, Family, Finances and Community - World MasterCard provides a unique and personalized rewards program while further enhancing MasterCard's already strong position in the affluent market. Purchase volume for World MasterCard increased over 20 percent from year-end 2003 to 2004. The television campaign will continue through the end of the year. The broadcast spot will be bolstered by the rollout of the print and online ad campaign this summer. McCann Erickson New York is handling the creative. The agency creative team includes: Joyce King Thomas, EVP, Chief Creative Officer; Pete Jones, SVP, Group Creative Director; Chris Cereda, VP, Associate Creative Director; Greg Lotus, VP, Senior Producer; Danielle Korn, EVP Director of Broadcast Operations; and Mike Boris, Executive Music Producer.