Advertising can be tedious, but major brands and companies know they can not survive without it. Also, from time to time, an ad hits the mark more than it annoys the audience. This happened back in 1997 during the evolution of Mastercard’s Priceless video.
In a world not so long ago but fundamentally different from the one we experience today, a card brand touched people with an inspiring marketing video emphasizing everything money cannot buy.
This is a contradictory move for a company that built its reputation on people’s banking activity, which might be the exact reason why it worked. But has it remained relevant in an ever-changing world?
Join the CasinoOnlineCA team as we navigate the complex history and the inspiring present days of Mastercard’s revolutionary advertising success as we examine the company and what lies behind the marketing triumph.
What stood out to us at CasinoOnlineCA is that Mastercard has remained one of the most popular payment methods in online casinos. Our experts embarked on a journey to explore what makes gamblers and ordinary customers flock to it. Our research has yet again reaffirmed that the creative marketing behind Mastercard ad campaigns is to thank as Mastercard casinos have cemented their reputation as household names in iGaming.
The Inception of Priceless
The Priceless campaign struck a chord by highlighting family and friends moments in our lives, something we often take for granted that cannot be bought with money. Some things are priceless, but there is a Mastercard for everything else. You have heard the phrase, no doubt, and it stuck.
The campaign didn’t stop there, of course. It went on to elaborate its concept by creating various segments to engage the customers further. The lethal combination of a cool core idea, a personal message anyone can understand, perhaps a slightly contradictive concept, and the willingness to grow and develop has made the many incarnations of the Priceless campaign such a powerful moment in advertising present and history.
Touch: A Pictureless Movie Experience
It started with Touch Card, a specialized product aimed at helping blind and low-sighted people confidently navigate the world of card payments. Catering to specific customers opened the door widely for the interest in multisensory marketing focused on appealing to all five senses instead of just sight and sound.
The next logical step was a pictureless cinema. Yes, you’ve read it right. Mastercard is a pioneer behind Australia’s first real movie without actual pictures, Touch, which relies on sound as the major narrative medium. The motion picture was directed by Tony Krawitz and premiered on February 13th, 2024, at Westpac Open Air. This event has been marked as the turning point towards a more inclusive cinematic experience.
Bus Stop Films organization was heavily involved in the creation process behind the movie, ensuring focus groups and their engagement with the movie-making process. The firm also made sure to balance its words with deeds by hiring blind and low-vision individuals in various creative roles, like project consultants.
“I cannot stress enough how important it is to redefine our approach to story consumption. We live in a civilization that stresses vision as the most important sense, often outright neglecting others. This robs us of wholesome experiences, not to mention isolates individuals who cannot be a part of them. It is so rewarding to finally see a project that caters to them as well as utilizes their creative skills and abilities,” says James Segrest, CasinoOnlineCA’s author and gambling expert.
Campaigns for a Cause
A key factor in Mastercard’s campaign’s longevity is the passionate support of many pressing matters concerning different groups. One of their many missions is the Wildlife Card Program. The mind-provoking approach raises awareness about endangered species by linking them with card expiry dates. The haunting message is that many species might forever be gone before your card expires.
But that is hardly the end of Mastercard’s crusading vision. The company is involved in other projects raising social and medical issues, like the Stand Up To Cancer Initiative, through which every online transaction made for certain restaurants and stores results in a Mastercard donation to the cancer initiative. Another famous project is Strivers, a multi-faceted platform meant to support Black female entrepreneurs.
Innovations in Inclusivity
Keeping up with the times is demanding, even for those with the best intentions. However, Mastercard has proven it might not be as difficult as it seems to many. Through their True Name Card feature, the company has shown its vocal support for the LGBTQ+ community as the feature enables non-binary and transgender people to choose the first name that appears on their cards.
This enables individuals to use their preferred name that could otherwise be unavailable to them, at least when it comes to legal documents, which is a step closer to validation and inclusion.
Engaging Through Sensory Branding
We have already briefly discussed Touch Cards, so let us give you a more detailed description of how amazing they are. They include a specific transaction sound designed to help visually impaired people understand their actions and feel more comfortable while using their cards.
However, Mastercard’s Sonic branding continues. Customers use Mastercard’s sonic features to reassure, comfort, and engage. For instance, after a device approves a transaction, the recognizable sound and animation start playing, communicating to the consumers that everything is right. This is not just comforting but also helps build an emotional and familial connection between users and the products they utilize.
Multisensory marketing is the essence of contemporary advertising in the brave new digital world. Long gone are the days of visual dominance and uninspired attempts at propaganda. Contemporary marketing is aware of its surroundings. It builds toward inclusive, wholesome experience, originality and emotional connection.
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Priceless Experience Platform
As a Mastercard cardholder, you can access the many offers at the Priceless.com platform, which displays discounts on various locations. These offers refer to travel, culture, cuisine, sport, and other activities people enjoy alone or with their loved ones.
The ability to associate a brand with such beloved hobbies, particularly those people build around the best life experiences and memories, is a triumph in its own right. After all, positive associations are crucial for a brand’s reputation. The platform also allows you to create unique memories that you might not have managed by yourself.
You can find specific, unforgettable offers nearby, like dining on top of a Times Square billboard or witnessing intimate concerts of Grammy-winning artists. You never know what magic the city you live in or are currently visiting holds. Luckily, Priceless.com can change that.
The Lasting Legacy of Priceless
The Priceless campaign started with a bold but simple concept message that resonated with millions and proved to be a stellar success for Mastercard. It was a heartfelt, easy-to-understand and catchy idea that worked brilliantly.
However, the company didn’t allow the inspired moment to go away. They pushed all their creative forces towards growth and embellishment, combining awareness of innovations, creativity, and just causes to establish a powerful, multi-faceted marketing reputation.
The clever strategy and always-fresh disposition have launched Mastercard to the top of relevant, user-friendly brands people gladly return to and recommend to others.
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Conclusion
Designing the right advertising strategy is a hard job. One can easily become boring, annoying, or even enrage the audience. Is there a perfect formula? Maybe not, but concepts that combine certain elements are more likely to succeed.
Mastercard has demonstrated that elements like a simple, catchy concept, a touch of personalization, care for an emotional connection with the users, and support for just causes are difficult to resist.
Add the high awareness of a constantly changing, sometimes frightening digital world and the need to adjust to those changes, and you have a campaign that is very likely to endure.
Mastercard has pioneered pictureless motion pictures, advocated for animal and human rights, accommodated its users with unique discount offers, and created a multisensory experience to connect with its consumers more successfully.
Their original thinking and inspired strategy are worthy of looking up to, so it’s no wonder their name is indeed so recognizable and beloved worldwide.
