For the past five years, MasterCard has supported Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) by donating 1 cent to SU2C (up to $4 million) when cardholders dine out and pay with their MasterCard during an annual, eight-week promotional period.
To achieve this $4million donation goal in 2015, we needed to stimulate more than 400 million dining-related transactions and beat the dining category's growth rate of 9% against the same period year on year. While the donation goal remained the same as 2014, our media budget was significantly reduced from previous years.
Culturally, there has been a sharp increase in consumer awareness and critique of brands' social responsibilities. Delivering great products and services is not longer enough, people now expect corporations to be involved in their community/causes as well.
Given comparable price and quality, 91% of global consumers are likely to switch to brands associated with a cause, and Americans are twice more likely to favor companies who focus on charitable donations.
With two million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year, everyone knows someone affected by cancer, but not everyone knows how to help.
In 2015, we empowered consumers by asking a simple question – "Who do you #StandUp4?" – and in doing so, gave people a way to donate to the cause and amplify awareness.
The #StandUp4 campaign tapped into a simple insight – everyone knows someone affected by cancer. We knew people wanted to help fight the disease but didn't always know how. With reduced media budget, but a steady target of $4MM in donations, we put the campaign into the hands of the people who could make the biggest difference – every day people whose loved ones had been affected by cancer.
By tapping insights at the core of people's motivations to support cancer research, we empowered an army of advocates to #StandUp4 someone they love and drive unprecedented campaign metrics and results.
Through proprietary research, we identified 'Working Moms' as our primary target. She's a natural advisor; 54% 'like to lead others', 53% 'my friends come to me for advice before buying things', and 57% are social media authors or commentators.
Given her busy pace of life, the Internet, mobile devices and social media are integral parts of her 'connections toolbox'. Social Media is her enabler, keeping her connected to family and friends, it's her platform to rally the troops, making them aware of, and enlisting support for, her causes.
The Working Mom became our campaign amplifier and all media efforts were funneled into social content for her to connect and share our message. Motivated to support this meaningful cause, she would mobilize her social circle to #StandUp4 a loved one affected by cancer, forming the beating heart of our campaign.
Digital, paid social and TV ran simultaneously, inspiring viewers to participate in #StandUp4, either by lending their voice on social media or by dining out. Consumers showed support by writing the name of a loved one on a placard and sharing it with the world on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
'Priceless Tables' gave cardholders an opportunity to dine in exclusive venues, such as Carnegie Hall, on top of the city at 360 Chicago and during the Home Run Derby at Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Across the US, celebrity chefs hosted fourteen 'Priceless Tables', including Marcus Samuelsson, Ludo Leferbve and Graham Elliot, where cardholders connected and shared stories with other cancer survivors.
The Priceless Tables experience was extremely personal and media amplified it in a similar way. Local radio promoted the tables in each market, and regional CRM initiatives used partner emails to develop deeper connections within each local community.
To date, MasterCard has donated $20 million to Stand Up To Cancer.
In 2015, we stimulated more than 400 million dining transactions in less than eight weeks and hit the $4 million goal 10 days ahead of the previous year. And, despite our budget reduction year on year, we exceeded the dining category growth rate by approximately 45%.
MasterCard's market share grew by 16% over pre-promotion period. MasterCard's average daily restaurant spends also increased by more than 6% over pre promotion period.
With a sharper, targeted media strategy and focused use of social platforms and earned media we outperformed the previous year:
