CONTEXT:

In a world that’s transforming at an incredible pace owing to digitization, influencing how we engage with everything around us, Mastercard too has embraced digital payments.

But with digital payments, the physical spaces where people see the brand have reduced. Even Mastercard's name has come off its logo.

With the brand ‘disappearing’ physically and with most users in the UAE having a Mastercard along with a VISA in their wallet, recognition, preference and usage for Mastercard in the UAE cannot decline.

Now, to improve recognition, preference and usage, a key goal is to make a payment solutions’ card, the card-on-file i.e. one’s Mastercard card needs to be set as the registered card on online and e-commerce platforms by users on those platforms. So, it becomes the preferred way to pay, hence positively influencing the business.

CHALLENGE:

Every year, the UAE witnesses a major shopping event called the Dubai Shopping Festival.

Mastercard’s main competitor in the payment solutions industry, is a partner and main sponsor of the Dubai Shopping Festival. And has significantly bigger marketing budgets than Mastercard in general (+70% more media coverage).

Therefore, during the Dubai Shopping Festival, that competitor benefits from media priority, free media space and other advantages that come with cross-promotions.

So, we had the opportunity to hijack the buzz that would typically feature the competitor, causing a serious dent in their expected business. And get people to register their Mastercards, as card-on-file, instead of the competitors' cards.

STRATEGY:

Audience: We were targeting shoppers across the UAE who used e-commerce shopping platforms. We wanted their Mastercard card to be the card-on-file for them.

Data-driven insight: Historical data proves that the period from December 26 to January 2, right after the Christmas holiday and shopping bonanzas across the UAE, tends to be the slowest retail season. Everyone has shopped and spent all their shopping budgets, with very little remaining in their wallets.

Strategy: So, we hijacked the pre-Christmas shopping festival with news, content and PR about the sale of the century that was coming up on December 26 when the solar eclipse would happen and encouraged people to hold onto part of their wallets and part of their holiday season’s shopping budgets for December 26.

CREATIVE IDEA:

On December 26, 2019, there would be a rare solar eclipse in skies around the world. It was, especially, a rare occurrence across the UAE, one that was 172 years in the making.

And we saw an opportunity to put Mastercard’s brand where everyone was looking, and activate usage.

We got Mastercard to partner with Noon.com, the biggest e-commerce retailer in the UAE, and built a unique activation and promotion tied to the eclipse.

Since 97% of the sun would disappear, 97% of the price would disappear too on the region’s biggest online retailer, noon.com, getting people excited not only for the sight of the century, but also for the sale of the century.

In activating the dead retail season, we left behind a priceless account of that one time that nature painted the Mastercard logo in the sky.

EXECUTION:

Before the eclipse, through a transmedia content strategy, across social, digital, mobile, on-ground and PR, we created buzz about the promotion.

And during the eclipse, from 6:30 to 8:30 am, one day after Christmas, Astronomical Sales from Mastercard, brought a dead retail season back to life.

On the day of the eclipse, events were held across Dubai, to spot the eclipse.

Thousands of people gathered with their phones in hand, tracking the eclipse in order to get the best prices.

And when the eclipse started, so did the sale.

As people tuned in on ground on their mobiles and at home from their laptops and mobiles, as the sun diminished, so did the prices, reaching discounts of 97%, and returning gradually to full price.

For those who purchased at the exact moment when the eclipse formed the Mastercard logo, priceless surprises and prizes were awarded to shoppers.

RESULTS:

Astronomical Sales helped Mastercard win attention, share-of-wallet and grow users.

Furthermore, the campaign deeply resonated with consumers on social media. The event created a buzz and led to user generated posts and increased shareability of the Astronomical Sales countdown.

+116% engagement vs. benchmarks.

+120 million social conversation impressions.

18,000 new registered Mastercard users on Noon.com. In just 2 hours, Mastercard cardholders registration on Noon.com were the same as would usually be expected from a 2 to 3 month campaign.

All products promoted were sold out during the eclipse – a record for e-commerce in the UAE.

As a result, Noon.com, the partner e-commerce platform, benefitted too.

15 times increase in the banner click through rate on Noon.com’s homepage.

Says Faraz Khalid, Noon.com CEO: “A vast majority of customers use cash-on-delivery as a payment method upon checkout. So, what was effective about this campaign was that the window that this campaign ran in, very rarely do credit cards become the dominant mode for payment. This is unique not just for Noon.com but also for e-commerce in our region. This has helped create awareness among customers to come online and shop with trust and that’s the real success of this campaign for us.”