At The Vertical Series breakfast on July 16th, The AD Club and Yahoo were pleased to welcome MasterCard’s Cheryl Guerin, EVP/Group Executive, and Seema Chibber, VP Media Planning and Partnerships and Marketing Strategy and Planning, to the stage to take a look into the finance category through the lens of marketing. Together they discussed MasterCard’s initiatives to drive greater consumer connections with cardholders, around one central objective: how can a business-to-business organization effectively engage consumers? Here’s what we learned:
- Emotions are Priceless. For everything else, there’s MasterCard. The Priceless campaign has remained wildly successful since 1997 because it universally touches people. MasterCard has remained relevant because their marketing strategy is about creating a movement, not just relying completely on traditional methods such as TV.
- Vertical Trend: Reach Consumers Locally. In a society surrounded by stressors, MasterCard is evolving their brand platform from a focus on observing priceless moments to enabling them, often through local initiatives. From Priceless Cities to Priceless Surprises to Acceptance Matters, MasterCard has placed a major emphasis on creating meaningful and authentic connections with their audience.
- The Results Have Spoken. MasterCard’s marketing strategy has paved the way for significant growth both financially and in brand equity. Their social media movements have been extremely successful. In the case of Priceless Surprises, MasterCard exceeded major social hashtag campaigns in just 4 months. They also successfully leveraged media and consumers to donate $25MM+ to cancer research.
Q&A Moderator:
Christopher Maccaro, Yahoo!
Presenters:
Cheryl Guerin, EVP/Group Executive, US Marketing, MasterCard
Seema Chibber, VP Media Planning and Partnerships and Marketing Strategy and Planning, MasterCard