Essay About Use Of Their Product And Best Way

Interaction Between Mastercard and Its Partners
Sketch or list the interaction between Mastercard and its partners in this network. [pic 1]Who are Mastercard’s customers and what do they need? Banks and Merchants who use their payments networkHow do they make money? Collecting fees from the banksHow can Mastercard add value for each of its customer groups?Ensure their brand stays strong (and desirable)Ensure people can use their product (Credit Card) in as many stores as possible)–Access is critical to their business model.Together, Mastercard and Visa own 75% of the worldwide payment network market. What does this market structure and market share mean for Mastercard? They have one main competitor to compete with.There is a danger that they could focus on market share to the detriment to their brand.  Also, focusing on market share, as you pointed out, can make a company blind to shrinking markets.The parkey appears to have a high barrier for entry (a new competitor would have to have their own proprietary transaction system and deploy it worldwide).Is Mastercard differentiated to its business partners and/or consumers? Yes, they extended their “Priceless” from the best way to pay to making priceless possibilities.  What is their “unique selling proposition”?Assessability–Customers can use their product worldwide.Strong brand, associated with being the card to use for credit card purchases.Marketing and advertising is often about changing minds (my brand is better, you need this service) or changing behaviors (use more often, trade up to premium) to find new customers, increase sales, increase loyalty, or increase profitability. What has Mastercard’s strategy been with its marketing?Focus on enhancing their brand (“Priceless campaign”).  For the past several years, using the Priceless campaign, they built a strong brand around MC being the best way to pay.Raja and his team are now shifting gears to from storytelling, to story making.They believe by including the customer in the story they will enhance and strengthen their brand.Do you think their past marketing has been a good investment?  Yes!Why or why not? They have successfully built up and maintained a strong brand (worldwide centering around MC being the best way to pay.They are moving towards social media as a means to connect people to possibilities (including them in the story), which will further enhance the MC brand by associating good times and adventures to their product.Consider Raja’s new Priceless Possibilities program. How should the program be evaluated for success and return on investment? It should be evaluated by measuring the number and the amount of their transactions.  This will give them a good idea of how their marketing impacted use of their product.  I think both, # of Transactions and $ amount of transactions, together would give them a good idea of how their marketing campaign impacted use of their credit card.#of Transactions measure will tell them if use of their product is growing, staying stagnant, or shrinking.$ Amount of transactions will let MC evaluate if their product is being used for “story” purchases–travel, tours–experiential events and activities.  It will also give them insight into the income levels of their users, allowing them to segment their marketing to various levels (high, middle and lower income).Do you think this program is what Mastercard needs given its business situation and network constituents? Yes.  As mentioned above, I believe the Priceless Possibilities marketing they are building off of the successful Priceless campaign.Do you recommend continuing the program as is, continuing it with changes, or abandoning the program in favor of something else? I think they should continue with the Priceless Possibilities marketing plan.Why?  Because it builds on the Priceless campaign that successfully positioned them as “the best way to pay” for goods and services.I agree with Raja.  By leveraging social platforms and by continuing with their “Priceless” marketing (evolving it essentially to encompass story telling) –offering “Priceless Possibilities”–they have the potential to increase their brand loyalty and create ambassadors.