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MasterCard Worldwide has hired a one-time popular clay television figure to lead its debit card marketing. Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard is using Mr. Bill, a figure made famous more than 30 years ago on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live," to appeal to consumers ages 18 to 35, a group that plays an important role in the growth of debit, one analyst believes.
"The under-35 market is far and away debit users," says Megan Bramlette, managing consultant for New York-based Auriemma Consulting Group. "A credit card is seen as a lending tool as opposed to a purchase tool" by that age group.
MasterCard says it is boosting the promotion of debit cards because debit card transactions continue to outpace credit card volume. "This year, we've used a new approach that really focuses on the business objective of keeping debit at the top of the wallet with consumers and encourages them and rewards them for doing that," Chris Jogis, MasterCard vice president of U.S. brand development, tells ATM&Debit &News.
Mr. Bill is one of a number of marketing efforts MasterCard is using as part of its Priceless Campaign to push debit card use to the top of consumers' wallets, Jogis says. Other efforts include a logo flip at the end of its Priceless television commercials to show the company supports both credit and debit cards.
"This approach has been used on almost all of our spots," Jogis says about the logo flip. "It's another way that debit is being integrated into our national marketing efforts."
MasterCard also is marketing its debit cards on radio.
In May, the card brand launched a debit campaign in 25 major markets with radio spots featuring improvisational comedy routines about everyday purchases consumers ofte nmake with debit cards. MasterCard created taglines appropriate for the geographic region where the commercials are broadcast, Jorgis says.
MasterCard also uses its Web site, www. priceless.com, to promote debit. The Web site features product information and details about promotions and contests.
In its Monthly Bonus Sweepstakes, MasterCard automatically enters holders of debit MasterCards, the brand's signature-debit product, each time they swipe their cards. Each month during the contest, MasterCard awards the grand prize winner $1,000 per month for 10 years. MasterCard also awards 12 winners–one each month–$10,000. Issuers promoted the contest for eight weeks last year, but MasterCard is giving issuers the option this year of using the contest whenever it works best for them throughout the year, Jogis says.
"It's particularly targeted at women because they are making a lot of the purchases and a lot of things for the household," Jogis says. "This is an idea of sort of giving them a bonus for all the activities they are doing for the household."
When Mr. Bill appeared on Saturday Night Live skits, he was pulverized, dismembered and humiliated. Three decades later, nothing has changed. His falsetto voice still screams, "Oh, nooooo!"
In MasterCard's commercial, he uses his debit MasterCard to pay $2 for a cup of coffee, but "Mr. Hands," the coffee server, pours the hot coffee over him. At the gym, Mr. Bill's personal trainer puts him on a treadmill and then increases the speed, throwing Mr. Bill off the machine onto the seat of a stationary bicycle. Mr. Bill pays his $59 monthly gym membership with his debit MasterCard.
He also buys a $120 briefcase, but the briefcase flips open, flinging him out his office in a high-rise building onto the windshield of a moving New York City bus. The commercial's voiceover says, "Whatever comes your way. There is debit MasterCard."
Consumers have responded well to the Mr. Bill commercial, according to MasterCard. MasterCard uses internal research to evaluate how consumers respond to advertisements, but it would not share specific information. A spokesperson says the Mr. Bill commercial scored exceptionally well compared with previous MasterCard spots throughout the year.
"The spot makes sense whether you know Mr. Bill or not," Jogis says.
"Saturday Night Live has a lot of resonance with consumers, so to tap the character and show him in sort of an optimistic sunny way, it definitely was a fun way to grab people's attention toward the debit product and talk about how it can help a consumer with the flexibility and control it offers them as they manage their finances," he adds.
