MasterCard for the past several years has been promoting its “priceless” experiences, such as behind-the-scenes access at ball games, golf tournaments, theater shows and other events. But its new “Priceless Cities” campaign, launched in New York in July, adds local and social-media dimensions.
One psychologist says the promotion takes MasterCard’s “priceless” theme into new dimensions by going beyond touting material goods. The promotion also taps into social media in new ways.
One example is an event this summer at the MasterCard Batter’s Eye Café at Yankee Stadium when Derek Jeter was only four hits away from his 3,000th career hit. The event was designed to drive loyalty by offering something experts say matters more than material goods.
"Affluent consumers are motivated by having unique stories to tell," says Cheryl Guerin, group head for U.S. marketing at MasterCard.
Tom Gilovich, professor of psychology at Cornell University, says MasterCard is onto something here. "The research is pretty clear that we get more enduring enjoyment out of our experiences than our possessions," he says.
But that effect is not always obvious to all. It is common to rationalize the purchase of a new flat-screen television, something concrete that lasts for years, over a vacation to Europe that is over in just a week or two.
The reality, though, is that people quickly get used to having the television, whereas they keep getting enjoyment out of telling stories about the trip of a lifetime. "Experiences really become a part of who you are," Gilovich says. "We are sort of the sum total of our experiences in a way that we aren't a total of our material goods."
MasterCard has long tapped into this dynamic with its "Priceless" advertising tagline. The Priceless Cities program builds on the idea. "I think in many ways it's a brilliant program," Gilovich says.
Priceless Cities rolls out to other cities nationwide and internationally over the next year. The goal is to target not only residents, but also travelers to the cities where different experiences are offered, says Guerin.
Some experiences offered through the program are only available to MasterCard’s most-elite World and World Elite cardholders. But MasterCard expects to eventually create offerings that would be geared toward any credit or debit customer.
Each city will get its own page on MasterCard's website—the New York page is at www.mastercard.com/pricelessny. Customers purchase tickets for the events online.
An ad campaign, including television, radio, print, outdoor and digital media tailored to each market, will help drive traffic to those Web pages, Guerin says.
A social-media component includes interactive games. One involves seats from the old Yankees Stadium, which have been hidden around New York at different landmarks. Cardholders who find the seats can use a mobile app to scan a bar code. This checks the cardholders into the seat's location on Facebook Places and enters them to win a pair of Yankees VIP tickets.
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