In recent years, the payments category has fragmented. New players offer consumers new ways to pay – which have been embraced by younger generations. Visa needed a way to improve brand relevance among 18–34 year-olds, a group with extremely high potential lifetime value for the brand.
As we researched the audience, we learned that 25% of younger Americans want to be professional Creators, but they do not know how to make this a reality. This gave us an opportunity. Our audience grew up as digital natives and place a lot of trust in Creators, but they needed guidance to start out on their own journey to becoming Creators.
Our idea was to build GetP@id, a challenge-based “reality show” with a social-first spin.
We paired three aspiring Creators with established Creator mentors in their same category — fashion, music and cooking. We issued the pairs challenges designed to simulate those they would likely face along their Creator journeys. The aspiring Creators received advice from their mentors on how to approach the challenges, allowing them (and the audience) to learn practical lessons along the way.
The program allowed Visa entry into the lives of their target audience in a compelling way. Viewers could watch the Creators grow, learn valuable lessons and experience positive emotions that carried over to the Visa brand. GetP@id also helped Visa stand out in the crowded TikTok environment. While other brands were speaking for themselves or trying to act like consumers – only Visa was advocating for Creators.
To activate our GetP@id strategy, we had to move away from advertising and create social content that provided entertainment and utility. So, we put a lot of thought into how our program challenges took shape. They needed to be fun – both for the Creators to tackle and for the audience to enjoy. But they also needed to reflect real-life challenges a Creator was likely to face along their journey – that way the audience could take their own lessons from the program.
Our first challenge helped Creators get out of their comfort zones and try new things. Our second asked Creators to make a “sponsored post” for an outrageous item: an oversized number two pencil. And our third got creators thinking about ways to grow their brand beyond just making videos.
Similarly, we worked long hours honing the specific content needs for each challenge. The program featured a host whose videos tied the program together for the audience. Each challenge kicked off with the host introducing the assignment for the mentor/mentee pairs. Then, the pairs exchanged "stitched" videos to fine-tune their approach before the mentee created their final challenge submission. Then, our host made wrap-up videos to recap the challenge highlights for viewers.
Beyond the challenge-specific videos, we built hype for the program with a custom song and a platform-native music video. We also expanded the utility of the program by having our mentors share tips addressed to the broader aspiring creator community. All content was posted on Creator- or Visa-owned TikTok channels.
Each of those videos had its own brief with context, mandatories, hashtags, post copy guidance, and more. Our master briefing document was 318 pages long.
On top of that, we needed the content to roll out as it was being made – we couldn’t bank all the content before posting. So, the pressure was on for all six weeks of the campaign. We had to build an air-tight process to make sure the content was shot, reviewed, revised, and blessed by the legal departments before going live on a strict posting schedule.
For all of that to work, casting was of the utmost importance. We needed to just the right creators who: A) fit one of our roles (mentor, mentee, host); B) had the charisma to make the content perform; C) were eager to partner and willing to take direction; and D) fit our budget.
Finally, a program this unique required a highly customized paid social media plan. We designed the media plan to mirror the spirit of the program, ensuring that each Creator received paid support on their own channel over the course of the campaign. We also built flexibility into the media plan – ensuring we had funds reserved during each phase of the program to boost the strongest content.
We put in place a comprehensive measurement plan for the program – and results were strong. First, we increased brand relevance with our primary Gen Z target by 26%. Second, we demonstrated that Visa is a committed partner to the Creator Community — as evidenced by a 13% lift in consumers responding that Visa is a brand that supports Creators. Finally, we improved the rates at which Gen Z and Creators said that Visa is part of the cultural conversation by 3% and 7%, respectively.
