News: Mastercard lunches with Eden Project for first CSR campaign - Marketing Week

Mastercard announced earlier this week that it would run its first corporate social responsibility-themed Priceless ad campaign in the UK. The ads form part of a partnership between the credit card company and The Eden Prject organisation called The Big Lunch.

The Big Lunch is a social cohesion scheme aiming to get the whole of the UK to sit down with their neighbours on their street and have lunch on July 19, 2009. The Mastercard campaign for the initiative, which uses the tagline "Turning your street into a neighbourhood - priceless" launched in national print media on Tuesday. A TV campaign will follow in May, with social media elements added at a later date.

With the credit industry under scrutiny following the financial turmoil of the past few months, Master-card is hoping that advertising this partnership will help position the company as one that understands "what matters to people" in any economic environment.

Mastercard vice-president of marketing for the UK and Ireland Ben Rhodes says: "We're a brand that is in most people's pockets. We're a huge enabler of commerce in the UK so we can't pretend we don't exist just because there is a tricky economic climate. Now's when you have to be brave and stand up for what you believe are the right things."

As many corporate sponsorships are coming under fire from consumers (see cover story, page 16), Mastercard claims that focusing on social change is "the right thing" for 2009. Although the brand has long been a sponsor of sporting and music events, such as the UEFA Champions League and The Brits, its competitor Visa has been more involved with community projects through its Olympics sponsorship scheme.

Rhodes claims the company had been keen to boost its involvement in community areas for a long time but felt it didn't have "permission in the space to say: 'let's create social change'. We have a reputation tracker and one of the key drivers is about being seen to have a positive effect on society. But this wasn't something we could do on our own."

On board as a partner

Mastercard's involvement in the project began after The Eden Project's founder Tim Smit, and Paul Twivy, chief executive of The Big Lunch, approached the company back in the summer of 2008. While Royal Mail, EDF Energy and the Post Office signed up as "supporter" brands, Mastercard is the sole "partner" company for the initiative.

Aside from the consumer advertising campaign, Mastercard is pushing the initiative to its partner bank businesses. These banks make the decision whether consumers have the Visa or Mastercard logos on their cards, so it is vital for the brand to utilise any partnerships to push preference among the banks.

Rhodes adds: "One of the key roles and tenets of our marketing is to make sure we have assets that can be used, whether intellectual, reputation or sponsorship, that we can use to help drive our customers' businesses."

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