In its latest marketing promotion, MasterCard Worldwide is offering cardholders who live in or who visit New York City rich and “priceless” experiences, such as sporting, concert, shopping and culinary events. The card company’s goal is to demonstrate to cardholders the added value in using a MasterCard product for payment.
The Reserved by MasterCard program is an extension of MasterCard MarketPlace, an online-shopping platform where consumers may shop for want they want at less cost, says Antonella Alaimo, MasterCard vice president of consumer marketing.
Events include tickets to New York Yankees baseball or Jets football games that include meet-and-greet experiences with players, and concerts played in intimate settings by world-renowned artists. The program also includes culinary experiences, including cooking demonstrations from such celebrity chefs as Marcus Samuelsson and Aaron Sanchez, and difficult-to-get reservations at exclusive New York restaurants.
Reserved by MasterCard also will offer a Sept. 23 VIP event called Priceless NYC Shopping Night, which will feature deals from more than 30 SoHo-area and Meatpacking District shops.
Certain VIP events are open to all MasterCard cardholders who RSVP to the event. In addition, every weekday at 12:30 p.m. MasterCard will announce a New York-specific “Overwhelming Offer” available to cardholders enrolled in MasterCard MarketPlace.
Cardholders may visit MasterCard’s Facebook page to learn more about Reserved by MasterCard in the MasterCard MarketPlace, which provides access to merchant-funded discounts.
MasterCard is supporting the program through print, outdoor and online advertising, and social-media outlets, Alaimo says. “On MasterCard’s Facebook page, which features a Priceless NYC tab, visitors may check out current and upcoming experiences and can also share these details virally with their Facebook friends,” she says.
MasterCard efforts to offer exclusive experiences to cardholders echoes the strategy of American Express Co., which for years has promoted its experiential rewards as a reason to choose AmEx over other cards, one observer says.
“This is a clear play versus AmEx,” says Megan Bramlette, director at Auriemma Consulting Group, which is based in New York. “The genesis behind these types of initiatives is really about making sure your best, most stable customer is not leaving you.”
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