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GRAND PRIX • GOLD INTEGRATION
MasterCard styles a city
Credits: Client MasterCard; Agency MacLaren
McCann; Head of marketing Lilian Tomovich;
CDs Sean Davison, Mike Halminen; ADs Robert
Kingston, Jeremy Lenz, Simon Tuplin, Matt Howe;
CWs Jason Levine, Ron MacDonald
When MasterCard Canada became
a sponsor of Toronto Fashion Week
in 2011, it signaled a commitment to
high-fashion. But the credit card co.
needed to find a way to activate at the
retail level.
Toronto is not regarded as a fashion
hub like Paris, Milan or New York, yet
various Toronto neighbourhoods are
hotbeds for fashion, carrying their own
unique style. So MasterCard created a
retail program called Stylicity leveraging
both the spring Fashion Week and
the unique offerings of Toronto’s
neighbourhoods to frame the city as a
destination for all things fashionable.
Working with MacLaren McCann,
the brand recruited fashionable Toronto
retail stores, restaurants and spas in
key neighbourhoods to offer cardholders
exclusive discounts and experiences
that coincided with the event.
Creative was a reflection of each
neighbourhood’s unique street-style and
fashion, with TSAs and wild postings
featuring real people styled in their own
wardrobes. Recognizable locations in
the heart of each neighbourhood served
as the backdrop, and executions were
interspersed with maps highlighting
nearby Stylicity locations.
The Style Reporter, a first-of-its kind
fashion supplement was distributed in
the Toronto Star, at World MasterCard
Fashion Week and in fashion-conscious
neighbourhoods. The piece featured
offers and included editorial created
by key influencers, such as Pink Tartan
founder Kimberley Newport-Mimran.
Media drove to a Stylicity blog,
where local fashion bloggers posted
about their experiences and directed
readers to where they could find their
next meal or purchase. Facebook,
Twitter and Pinterest integrations also
helped spread the word.
The goals were to lift MasterCard
transaction volume at Stylicity
partner locations and create broad
consumer awareness and participation,
establishing Stylicity as the retail
program associated with World
MasterCard Fashion Week.
Because this was a new program,
the benchmark was an increase in
normal spending versus the same
period the year prior. The campaign
exceeded expectations, with a 600%
increase in unique MasterCard usage,
a 71% increase in gross dollar volume
spend on cards and a 78% increase in
the number of transactions.
The Stylicity blog received more
than 10,000 unique page visits, double
the expected number. Facebook
likes increased by 400% and Twitter
followers rose to 5,200 from next to
none. In addition, Stylicity partners
nearly doubled (99 from 52) compared
to the fall 2011 pilot.
March 2013
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