MasterCard shares ‘locally famous’ experiences with Sydneysiders in new campaign via McCann

MasterCard Australia is shouting Sydneysiders to a smorgasbord of authentic experiences in its latest Priceless Sydney campaign. The campaign, headed up by McCann Australia, aims to drive registrations and use of the Priceless Sydney platform among Sydneysiders.

Priceless Cities is a global MasterCard marketing property designed to attract affluent consumers. The online platform offers exclusive experiences in dining, retail, entertainment and sports and is now operating in 26 cities including New York, London, Chicago, Los Angeles, Singapore, Beijing and Sydney.

As part of the new campaign, ‘Locally Famous’, MasterCard cardholders can receive exclusive offers at favourite local Sydney institutions – like Bourke Street Bakery, Aquabumps, Lucio’s in Paddington, Sydney Harbour Kayaks and Sparkle Cupcakery to name a few.

As an example, for the Bourke Street Bakery offer, MasterCard cardholders receive the bakery’s famous sausage roll for free when they spend $15 on their MasterCard.

Says John Mescall, McCann Australia executive creative director: “The beauty of Sydney is that that there is no single quintessential Sydney experience. What is priceless is discovering the diverse experiences that live under the surface of its many unique villages. This campaign will introduce a broader range of Sydneysiders to the many benefits of living in Sydney and the many benefits of using a MasterCard card.”

With partner agencies McCann, UM, MercerBell, ICLP and The Origin Agency working closely together, the campaign has used bloggers to seed the variety of ‘Locally Famous’ experiences. A troupe of 60 influential hairdressers were also engaged, armed with goodie bags and vouchers to experience the offers to help spark an estimated 30,000 ‘Locally Famous’ conversations in Sydney.

Wherever Sydneysiders look, they will encounter the Priceless Sydney ‘Locally Famous’ integrated campaign – from ambient chalking and out-of-home, video content that tells the story of the hero merchants to digital display and press ads.

MasterCard has partnered with Time Out Sydney magazine to create a MasterCard-branded Time Out guide, monthly magazine editorials, Time Out app integration and more to come.

A partnership with Fairfax has so far seen activations where geo-targeted custom wraps of The Sydney Morning Herald and special tote bags given away at local markets, along with a full SMH.com.au digital, mobile and tablet takeover on 26 July, and will see ongoing regular editorial in The Sydney Magazine and Good Weekend.

Says Kerry Boys, group director at UM: “These new and unusual channels were the smartest way to take MasterCard’s message straight to local people and create earned media. Using our network of hairdressers and their customer conversations together with the tote bags and other local media activations deliver an interesting, impactful and personal campaign.”

The campaign will run for the remainder of the year.

Producer: Adele Vuko