Campaign Spotlight

Campaign Spotlight: Mastercard & McCann Singapore Get Lyrical About Contactless Payments on Buses and Trains

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SINGAPORE  McCann Singapore has launched a campaign to celebrate Mastercard® being the first issuer in the city state to enable contactless debit and credit card payments on board buses and trains. This allows commuters to do away with prepaid fare cards, and simply tap & go with a Mastercard debit or credit card.

To raise awareness, McCann Singapore created a campaign inspired by the experiences of commuters and the frustrations they face when their fare card is low on funds, whether by getting blocked at the gantries or having to queue to top up their cards.

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The agency used these commuter situations as the topics of three film spots, and showed how much smoother journeys could be with Mastercard. But unlike regular ads, they didn’t just say it. They broke into song with the help of homegrown artiste, Sandra Riley Tang, from popular local band, The Sam Willows.

Commuters were targeted with these mini music videos during morning and evening rush hour, via ads on Facebook and Instagram. Then they were reminded of the campaign’s messages via an array of strategic OOH placements, at  train stations across Singapore. Once on board trains, they were shown the many things they could be doing instead of topping up fare cards. And for the first time, train stations themselves will be used as media channels, with the songs getting air play over their public announcement systems from May 2019.

“Rather than focus on negative travel experiences, we chose to highlight the benefits of Mastercard’s contactless payments with quirky songs that were inspired by the small frustrations that people face every day. No more queuing, no more awkward U-Turns at the gantry, no more delays when you’re already late. When you tap and go, your journey becomes just that little bit smoother”, said Group Creative Directors, Eirma Webster and Angie Featherstone.

Bus commuters weren’t left out either. They were strategically targeted with different messages depending on the time of day and even the weather. And these ads appeared at bus stops in key commuter-dense locations around Singapore.

“We’re joining cities like London, Sydney, Vancouver, Kaohsiung, Kiev and Milan, where commuters enjoy seamless, hassle-free journeys thanks to contactless payments”, said Deborah Heng, Singapore Country Manager for Mastercard.

“This drives seamless commerce across different platforms as consumers can go about their daily activities with just a Mastercard in hand—from taking public transport to dining out and shopping.”

    

Credits:

Account Director: Lee Wei Jiin
Account Executive: Nadhira Saleh

Senior Account Manager: Ho Jie Wei

Regional Group Account Director: Elisa Tsang

Regional Business Director: Chris Galea

Regional Planning Director: Judd Labarthe

Planning Director: Mapaul Manalo

Operations Director: Lesley Chelvan

Executive Producer: Andrea Ferronato

Producer: Yvonne Lee
DI & Print Production Manager: Darren Soong

Group Creative Director: Angie Featherstone

Group Creative Director: Eirma Webster

Senior Art Director: Keshav Bhat

Senior Copywriter: Ashok Narandran

Ivy Yap: Studio Manager

Production House: Curious Film

Audio Production House: Zendyll Productions

Still Photograpy: Alvin Tan, Teo Studios

Media Agency: CARAT

PR Agency: Weber Shandwick

 

 

About McCann Worldgroup:

McCann Worldgroup, the world’s most creatively effective marketing services company, is dedicated to helping brands play a meaningful role in people’s lives. With over 20,000 employees in more than 100 countries, the network includes: McCann (advertising), MRM//McCann (digital marketing/relationship management), Momentum Worldwide (total brand experience), McCann Health (professional/dtc communications), CRAFT (global adaptation and production), Weber Shandwick (public relations), FutureBrand (consulting/design), and PMK-BNC (entertainment/brand/popular culture). McCann Worldgroup is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG).

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