MasterCard was the premier sponsor of the inaugural Skift Global Forum. MasterCard sought to educate influencers about MasterCard's end-to-end travel story: "MasterCard is the only travel companion you need". Ultimately, the team's goal was to "take over" the conference and create buzz among influencers in attendance and online. The team sought to dominate social conversation related to travel with week-long brand publishing and related consumer and media activations.
The strategy for the MasterCard team was to curate travel-related content for social media channels and its newsroom throughout the week leading up to the event. MasterCard utilized the event to engage with 400 senior travel executives and influencers from companies such as Starwood, American Airlines, AirBnB and TripAdvisor and media outlets such as the New York Times, Boston Globe and Bloomberg, extending the conversation through a dedicated social media and influencer engagement program.
MasterCard made its mark at the intersection of travel and technology with a 360 degree activation around the Skift Global Forum. MasterCard Communications built an integrated program that presented MasterCard's insights, brand and product assets in an experiential way, which ultimately shifted the way industry influencers and consumers perceive MasterCard and travel.
This past year, MasterCard set out to have a stronger presence within the travel industry. As such, the company sponsored the inaugural Skift Global Forum on the Future of Travel which brought together 400 travel industry executives and influencers across airline, hotel and technology companies.
For years, MasterCard has struggled to compete as a leader in the travel industry. American Express consistently dominated travel share of voice amongst MasterCard competitors. It was time for MasterCard to share its travel story and insert itself into industry dialogue. The Skift partnership was the ideal opportunity for MasterCard to make its mark in the travel industry and gain a leading voice in the conversation.
Ahead of the Skift Forum, MasterCard conducted a survey which revealed Americans leave over 400 million paid vacation days on the table each year. MasterCard urged Americans to take #OneMoreDay and utilize their well-earned vacation days. The findings from the survey contributed to the relaunch of the MasterCard Concierge Service. The timing of the relaunch aligned with the Skift event which provided MasterCard with a chance to share these insights at the Forum.
In the build-up to the Skift conference, the team engaged with travel influencers via Twitter and Vine. Digital engagements enhanced the relationship with travel influencers the team already had a relationship with and sought to further expand reach by building relationships with new influencers. Live tweeting and vining kept @MasterCardNews followers up-to-date on the day of the event. Live tweeting included coverage of MasterCard's engagement with conference attendees and social media influencers including American Airlines, Living Social, Lonely Planet and the US Travel Association. The team also live tweeted the remarks of MasterCard executives who spoke on behalf of the brand at the event. The team both maintained and grew relationships with travel influencers via twitter before, during, and after the event.
In addition to the team's digital outreach, the MasterCard travel narrative was amplified through several activations associated with the Skift Global Forum sponsorship. The morning of the event, the team took the streets surrounding the forum to distribute Priceless Surprises to MasterCard cardholders. MasterCard's Mobile Conversation Suite was also part of the activation.
The Conversation Suite is MasterCard's social media monitoring and engagement tool which tracks mentions of MasterCard and its competitors across 55 markets and 26 languages. A special view of the tool was set up to showcase conversations taking place at the forum. The MasterCard Conversation suite was also the hub where fans had the opportunity to interact with MasterCard's Priceless Vending Machine. Guests were encouraged to tweet using two hashtags and receive a special travel-related gift for engaging. Surprises offered by the vending machine included signed sports memorabilia and a family day with the New York Jets or Giants. Visitors to the Conversation Suite increased when delegates heard of the engagement opportunity. In the suite, MasterCard announced it reached over 1,000 hotels in its Luxury Hotels & Resorts portfolio, and premiered a special travel-inspired Priceless Surprise video. Additionally, the Conversation Suite also featured live reporting and MasterCard's travel concierge was on hand to offer delegates travel opportunities available only to MasterCard cardholders.
To increase visibility, MasterCard branding was showcased throughout the forum. A MasterCard-branded event itinerary was formatted as a boarding pass to emulate the feeling of embarking on a journey. Digital branding of the event included a MasterCard banner ad on skift.com and featured images on the daily Skift newsletter.
As a result of MasterCard's participation in the Forum, the company is now seen as a leader in the travel space among industry influencers and has maintained a lead in share of voice by 74% against competitors.
Ultimately, the efforts made by the Communications team surrounding the Skift Global Forum shifted the travel conversation in the payments industry towards the MasterCard brand. MasterCard's newly dominating share of voice, which can be attributed to the team's work done for the Skift Global Forum, is proof that MasterCard is truly a premier travel companion. The various successful initiatives associated with the forum are a testament to the team's dedication to positioning MasterCard at the forefront of travel. Not only did the team achieve the initial goal of positioning MasterCard as a premier travel companion but also exceeded expectations by positioning the MasterCard brand as the leading voice for payments in the travel industry.