Ad Infinitum: Cashless Joys
Last year, Mastercard developed a campaign with Irrfan Khan to introduce people to its myriad usage. This year, Mastercard is taking it forward with Mahi and Mama chronicles, which are aimed at driving awareness around the use of debit cards. Mastercard wants to change the way India pays, without changing Indian shopping experiences.
Conceptualised by McCann, the campaign featuring cricketer M.S. Dhoni will tell stories around everyday payments through debit cards to build awareness around convenience, wide acceptance and security features of debit cards.
Explains Manasi Narasimhan, Vice President, Marketing and Communication, South Asia, Mastercard, “This new campaign aims to address the day-to-day shopping needs of consumers, especially in tier-2 and -3 cities. The idea is to burst myths around digital payments. The overarching thought was to create a behavioral shift amongst the consumers towards digital payments. Therefore, this campaign encourages the use of cards in different scenarios, as ‘the best way to pay for everything that matters’. It also reflects small joys which are very unique to India, such as street food, hospitality for guests, etc. The campaign TVCs highlight how these priceless joys are enabled by Mastercard, hence, the tagline ‘Kyonki Kuch Khushiyan hain Priceless’.”
The ads have Pankaj Kapur essaying the role of Dhoni’s Mama. Talking about the two, Narasimhan says, “Dhoni has been a unifying force for the nation and he personifies the evolution of a small town boy into a cricketing legend. On the other hand, Kapur is known for his acting prowess and versatility. We believe that together they will be able to connect with the consumers and deliver our messages around safety and security, wide acceptance and usage of debit cards. The ad films also bring out the fun factor. We believe that together the two will be able to trigger a behavioural shift amongst consumers, especially in tier-2 and -3 cities.”
The campaign will be promoted across traditional and social media platforms. The six TVCs will be translated into eight languages and will reach out to audiences across 120 tier-2 and -3 cities.
“Over the last couple of years, Mastercard had launched various campaigns such as ‘Cashless bano India’, ‘#KhulGayiLife’ campaign with Irrfan Khan, ‘Digital Rath’ with Confederation of All India Traders and a WhatsApp campaign across cities to increase merchant awareness. All these campaigns are aimed at creating awareness around the convenience of digital payments,” says Narasimhan.
