MasterCard’s Head of Marketing for South East Asia talks about the art and craft of surprising consumers.
Tell us more about the Priceless Surprises proposition crafted by MasterCard.
Priceless Surprises is an extension of Random Acts of Kindness, a programme we’ve been running in SouthEast Asia since 2012. With Random Acts of Kindness, we wanted to reward consumers who used their MasterCard to make purchases. In 2012, we identified people using their MasterCard during the Great Singapore Sale and gave them tickets to see Lady Gaga in concert. We’ve now formalised that globally into what we call Priceless Surprises. Priceless Surprises is really a sprinkling of the priceless into every day life. It doesn’t need to sit on a campaign. We can inject it any time. It could be as basic as a restaurant coming up to you and saying “Guess what? You’ve just paid with your MasterCard – so the bill’s on us.”
Last year, we brought golfers out to Sentosa and told them to play off against each other for a spot at the MasterCard golfing event taking place the next day. We then surprised them with a visit by golfing legend Sir Nick Faldo, who showed up in a buggy. There was also a bigger surprise in store involving a father and son duo. The son was surprising his dad who had met with Sir Nick Faldo 21 years ago in Singapore. This was such a huge moment for the son to introduce his dad to Faldo again. The dad knew nothing about the surprise and was so touched.
Watch the surprise unfolding right here:
How will Priceless Surprises evolve in 2015?
We’re going to build on Priceless Surprises this year and go deeper with the existing assets that we’ve got. I can’t go into the details at the moment – it’ll be a surprise consumers can look forward to.
How does MasterCard decide on the nature of surprises to spring upon consumers?
We do a lot of social listening to understand what conversations are going on, what people are passionate about, and what they love. It’s all about finding the elements that make a genuine surprise. It sounds very simple but it’s highly scientific.
At the end of the day, we see our cardholders as people who have passions and great loves in their lives. If we can help bring those together, we are a brand for good.
What’s the most memorable surprise you’ve received?
Last year, Octagon – one of our agencies – created a surprise for me through one of the MasterCard theatres. They invited my husband, daughter and I to the theatre for a Disney show. They actually got my daughter to meet Mickey and Minnie on stage. It was such an amazing moment for my girl and a great surprise for the both of us. That was really touching. She will remember the moment for life.
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