Summary
MASTERCARD – Rozana Wala Card Through our strategic idea - ‘KYUKI KUCH KHUSHIYAN HAIN PRICELESS' (Some joys are priceless) – Mastercard got consumers to accept cards as a daily habit. We clocked double digit growth in the number of transactions post the campaign, embedding ourselves into the cultural payment apertures of everyday life in tier 2 India.
Challenge
Cash was still the king after 4 years of demonetization. While demonetization gave a push to digital payments in urban India, small town ‘Bharat' reverted to cash. Cash is not just a way to pay here, it is culture! Research revealed that tier 2 audience didn't see Mastercard as a relevant brand – we were a foreign brand asking them for culturally alien behaviour. This led us to the question- How can Mastercard fight years of inertia to use card payments in the face of strong and renewed love for the cash-culture & convince the small-town consumer who see us as an alien ‘premium' brand? We set out to change the perception around usage of cards through our idea of ‘KYUKI KUCH KHUSHIYAN HAIN PRICELESS' (Some joys are priceless).
Objective
Mastercard wanted to establish itself as a relevant brand for tier-2 audience in India. We set the following measurable business and marketing objectives. OBJECTIVE 1- Our campaign's entire focus on embedding Mastercard in the consumer's daily lives. Get consumers to accept the idea of using Mastercard, similar to the role cash plays in their everyday life. OBJECTIVE 2 - We aimed to increase our brand affinity in the smaller towns by 5%. OBJECTIVE 3 –. Through the campaign, we aimed to increase our brand equity by 5%. OBJECTIVE 4 - Increase card activations amongst consumers in tier 2 cities in India. OBJECTIVE 5 – Ensuring Mastercard is perceived as the best payment option during point of purchase. We mapped brand attributes to understand how our consumers perceive us.
Strategy
The insight we gained through our research was - CARDS ARE NOT UP AGAINST CASH, they are up against THE CULTURE. Our WALLET AUDIT told us that while the debit card was important, it was also considered largely irrelevant for everyday living, for the Tier-3 audience. To unlock our relevance, 1. We needed to embed ourselves in the cultural payment opportunities of everyday life in tier 2 India. 2. We needed to assure our audience that we want to make their payment experience better without changing their shopping habits & preferences. But how could we do it? We decided to FOLLOW THE MONEY which led us formulate our use case strategy. We had to make the strategic shift from: - High ticket items to everyday small purchases - High end stores to small local outlets - Western habits to uniquely Indian joys - A CARD THAT GIVES ACCESS TO THE ASPIRATIONAL LIFESTYLE OF INDIA to A CARD THAT MAKES THE BHARTIYA'S LIFE RICHER While making all these shifts, we had to be careful to not ask them to change what they buy and where they buy it. Asking our audience to change their behavior would have resulted in further alienation with the category and the brand and hence we decided we find our role in the their cultural payment habits We needed to break through the legacy cultural barriers created by the category itself towards cards by educating the small town audience that Mastercard can enable all the purchases that bring them joy from pakodas to sarees. We set out to change Bharat's payment habit without changing their shopping experience.
Data
With the help of research and data we were able to converge to our marketing objectives for this campaign. By the end of 2019, there was more cash in circulation than ever before. Industry experts called it Re-monitization. CASH WAS THE UNDISPUTED KING: Cash accounted for upwards of 95% of all transactions, 90% of vendors don't have card readers or the means of accepting electronic payments, 85% of workers are paid in cash. It is seen as easier, familiar and tangible (source: Forbes) OBJECTIVE 1- Our campaign's entire focus on embedding Mastercard in the consumer's daily lives. Get consumers to accept the idea of using Mastercard, similar to the role cash plays in their everyday life. OBJECTIVE 2 - We aimed to increase our brand affinity in the smaller towns by 5%. OBJECTIVE 3 –. Through the campaign, we aimed to increase our brand equity by 5%. OBJECTIVE 4 - Increase card activations amongst consumers in tier 2 cities in India. OBJECTIVE 5 – Ensuring Mastercard is perceived as the best payment option during point of purchase. We mapped brand attributes to understand how our consumers perceive us. Sources: - Quartz: India's use of cash is back to the levels before demonetization. - Livemint: Cash is still king (2019). - Mastercard Sales Report 2018-2019.
Solution
We brought out the contrast between the old world of cash and the new world of cards through MS Dhoni and Pankaj Kapoor's - Mahi & Mama - chronicles which were aimed at driving education around the usage of debit cards. We educated consumers on changing their way to pay, without changing those priceless, Indian shopping experiences. Our integrated campaign elements - 1. Grab attention with engaging storytelling- MAMA-MAHI CHRONICLES - We launched 6 stories on TV which showcased Mahi and mamas eating and shopping adventures with Mastercard. Medium: TV 2. Maximize the reach of our idea- KYUKI KUCH KHUSHIYAN HAI PRICELESS ON DIGITAL - Films that showcased the ubiquitous acceptance of cards and the ease of transactions. Medium: Digital 3. Showing ubiquitous acceptance – DEPICT USE CASES - Our outdoor showcased use cases and served as a reminder of ‘cards are accepted at a wider variety of merchants'. Medium: OOH and print 4. Contextual reminders – We reminded people on digital while they were shopping online on platforms like amazon to pay with cards rather than COD. Medium: Digital 5. Merchant education – WHATSAPP VIDEOS TO EDUCATE MERCHANTS - It was not enough to educate consumers, we also needed to make sure that merchants understood and appreciated card payments too. We created quick story videos to be distributed on WhatsApp to merchant networks. Medium: WhatsApp videos for merchant networks 6. Merchant outreach – On ground merchant activation - We ran our Team Cashless efforts with Dhoni and traders bodies like CAIT. In this outreach program we educated merchants on the benefits of accepting digital payments. Medium: On-ground 7. Massive merchant onboarding drive – APP development We made it easy to onboard merchants by developing an app that helped cut down merchant onboarding time from 21 days to 30 mins.
Results
OBJECTIVE 1 – Our campaign's entire focus on embedding Mastercard in the consumer's daily lives. Get consumers to accept the idea of using Mastercard, similar to the role cash plays in their everyday life. RESULT 1 – The number of transactions clocked double digit growth during and post campaign. (Source: Mastercard Sales Data) OBJECTIVE 2 - We aimed to increase our brand affinity in the smaller towns by 5%. RESULT 2 – Mastercard has shown strong affinity amongst consumers across Tier 2 cities by 7%. (Source: Mastercard Brand Health Report) OBJECTIVE 3- Through the campaign, we aimed to increase our brand equity by 5%. RESULT 3 – Mastercard's equity has steadily improved by 7% and has become one of the leading brands in Tier 2 cities, driven by strong opinion of the brand. (Source: Mastercard Brand Health Report) OBJECTIVE 4 - Increase card activations amongst consumers in tier 2 cities in India. RESULT 4 – New card activations doubled post campaign (Source: Mastercard Sales Data) OBJECTIVE 5 – Ensuring Mastercard is perceived as the best payment option during point of purchase. We mapped brand attributes to understand how our consumers perceive us. RESULT 5 – Mastercard's perceived brand attributes that stood out strongly were " I am proud to own it" and it was also seen as a good "cash replacement" (Source: Mastercard Brand Health Report)
