MasterCard - Priceless

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This bulletin features a discussion between EffectiveBrands (EB) and Lawrence Flanagan of MasterCard. It talks about Flanagan’s success in rejuvenating the MasterCard brand, his approach to building an effective global brand team and the lessons he has learned along the way. Flanagan is the Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice-President of Global Marketing at MasterCard. The company's “Priceless” advertising campaign currently is airing in more than 90 countries worldwide. Flanagan has also held brand leadership positions at L’Oreal and Procter and Gamble.

EB: Can you describe the evolution MasterCard went through to achieve its current global positioning?

Flanagan: Back in 1997, MasterCard didn’t stand for any one thing. It had run through five different advertising campaigns in ten years and was losing a lot of business. My job was to fix the brand. I started in the U.S. by developing an effective U.S. advertising campaign that differentiated the brand in the marketplace. We worked alongside McCann-Erikson to develop the highly successful “Priceless” campaign. The positioning created by “Priceless” allowed MasterCard to integrate all its other campaigns and marketing practices within the U.S. This started as an advertising strategy, became a marketing platform and went on to become our global brand platform.

At that time, every country used a different agency, a different campaign, and a different strategy. The success of “Priceless” as a platform in the U.S. helped us persuade other countries to adopt one single approach. Over time this became a consistent global positioning. Our “Priceless” campaign now appears in 96 countries and 45 languages and forms the framework we use for all brand communications.

Developing a Consistent Global Positioning

EB: Starting a positioning locally and then successfully expanding it globally is unusual. The more typical approach is to begin with a unique consumer insight that’s applicable globally and then build a global platform from there. Is it luck that MasterCard’s key insight is applicable in other countries?

Flanagan: The U.S. strategy was based on a lot of consumer research; and the insight we arrived at was that there had been a significant change since the 70’s, attitude of, "you are what you buy". Consumers now focus on lifestyle and quality, and on the concept of, “rewarding yourself for what you've earned”. Their core values are family, security, companionship and “making time for yourself”. It was unique for a credit card company to say to consumers, "It's not about what you buy; it's about how you take care of yourself."

We found that our U.S. insight held just as true for every other country. We also conduct research called, “What Matters” to help keep our finger on the pulse of what is going on in the world. The success in this situation came from taking the insight to a level where it cut across every culture and country, based on an extensive understanding of what really matters to people.

EB: How did you convince marketers in other countries to adopt the same advertising campaign and platform?

Flanagan: Three factors facilitated the global adoption of the “Priceless” platform. First of all, the great success in the U.S. grabbed everyone’s attention. Secondly, nobody believed any other alternative campaigns were any better. Most importantly, whenever local marketers saw the campaign, they really liked what they saw. We had the numbers to back up the strategy, but we didn’t even need to cite them; marketers were won over by the innate appeal of the “Priceless” platform.

EB: Did you use the “What Matters” research to adapt the campaign outside the U.S.?

Flanagan: Absolutely. We empower every local team by saying, “Here's the strategy and the framework that’s proven to be effective. Now focus on creating content relevant for your own area within that framework.” The ‘What Matters’ research generates insights that allow local marketers to create a campaign that they truly feel has local resonance, while at the same time maintaining the core brand positioning. We’ve changed the meaning of "NIH" (Not Invented Here) to "Now Improved Here".

Global vs. Local and Building Effective Teams

EB: How do you structure your marketing organisation to promote a balance between executing a global strategy and maintaining local relevance?

Flanagan: We have about 130 people in the marketing organisation. The global team works with regional presidents and other marketing people on a daily basis. They are responsible for creating global strategies, setting budgets, signing off on plans and disseminating best practices across countries. Local marketers have clearly defined roles and responsibilities, so they are always certain about which aspects of the brand are non-negotiable and what aspects they can tailor for local consumers. The whole group has shared values and investments and we work in close partnership with McCann-Erikson sharing both risks and rewards.

Innovation is a little different for us as we do not distribute our own product, the banks do and they tend to invest in their own innovation and products. We typically develop things centrally and then work with the countries to see where this should be applied, but on the true product innovation front, we often find that more ideas come from outside the U.S. The lack of standardised infrastructure elsewhere, creates more opportunities to innovate in areas like chip technology and card design.

EB: What do you do to make it easier for your international marketers to work together effectively?

Flanagan: I make sure that our people meet at least once a year to simply get to know each other. Our corporate culture is such that if you have a question you just pick up the phone and call the person. If you’ve already met the person, that’s much easier to do. I try to create introductions and familiarity to instil a quick-response mentality.

Lessons Learned

EB: What are some of the top lessons you’ve learned that you could transfer to other brands?

Flanagan: The most important lesson is, “Listen to the consumer.” This was one of the keys to MasterCard’s turnaround. When you really listen to and observe consumers, you can make decisions based on what the consumer really thinks and feels.

Beyond the infrastructure you work within and measuring your ROI, everything comes down to the people you work with. We have a relatively small marketing function. We are fortunate in that we have some really talented marketers in every country who really “get” brands, enjoy the challenges involved in growing them, and know how to work in a matrix organization effectively.

EB: Based on our experience and past interviews, we often hear that Global Marketers lack a community in which they can openly share ideas. To address this we are creating a ‘Leading Global Brands Council’, where project participants will be able to meet and share best practices and challenges. Do you share a similar sentiment about there being a lack of community? And if so, to whom do you turn for guidance?

Flanagan: For general advice, I turn to the CEO and COO, regional presidents and banking professionals. When it comes to global brand issues I often talk to McCann-Erickson. They have accumulated decades of incredible experience. These discussions help push my team’s strategy to the next level[A1] . However, I do feel that people in my specific profession lack a community and that there are very few people with whom I feel I can have an open exchange of ideas. This is one of the reasons why I am so enthusiastic about the Leading Global Brands project and future Council meetings.

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