Branding Banking Cards: MasterCard Social Media Strategy

MasterCard is harnessing social media data to yield insights that guide business decisions and shape product development.

Two or three years ago, Mastercard didn't really have much of a social media strategy. Today, the brand has a lot of followers on its main Twitter account and several other accounts for different topics and services. A big part of this process means making sure its employees are all digitaly savvy.
Today, MasterCard is arguable one of the most successful financial companies to engage in social channels. In fact, if The Financial Brand included pauments companies in the Social Media Power 100 rankings. MasterCard would sit alone a top the list as the world's most successful institution using social channels.

MasterCard lists a number of benefits from its intensive immersion in social media.

Beyond the Insights that they say now inform their everyday business decisions, MasterCard uses social intelligence to shape ideation and product development, spark brand engagement and awareness, track brand performance and reputation as well as providing context around what consumers really want.

One example of MasterCard social media campaign:

PRICELESS SURPRISE – launched on January 2014

Objectives: To extend their 17-year-old "Priceless" campaign, and to show that people is the most important for the brand. In order to reach the new generation through this old campaign, MasterCard focuses on capitalizing surprises, emotions, and connections.
Descriptive: The campaign featuring Timberlake launched during the Grammy Awards earlier this year, and saw the singer meet a fan at her home. While the commercial was released on national television, MasterCard set a team to track "Appropriate Time Marketing" instead of "Real Time Marketing."

Social media interaction following the commercial helped the "#PricelessSurprise" campaign launch effectively. The "#PricelessSurprise" also arrived in the United Kingdom during the country's BRIT Awards featuring singer and producer Pharrell.

Targeted Groups: Young people

Platforms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube