Localized Creative Rationale Highlights Importance of Middle East Market

Dubai, UAE, November 2, 2004: MasterCard International today announced the launch of the first localized TV commercial of its award winning, globally successful "Priceless" communication platform, in the Middle East. The first "Priceless" TV commercial, targeted at consumers in the Region, clearly demonstrates MasterCard's recognition of the huge potential within the market.

The Middle Eastern  "Priceless" TV commercial  was developed by the local MasterCard marketing team and Fortune Promoseven, an affiliate of McCann Erickson, one of the world's leading advertising agencies. The release of the TV commercial coincides with MasterCard's Ramadan and Holiday Season campaign.

Thomas Edelmann, vice president, marketing, MasterCard International Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region, said, "The "Priceless" communication platform is one of the most popular and successful ones globally. Considering the current growth in the region's payment card industry and its immense future potential, we feel it is the right time to communicate MasterCard's brand values to our existing and prospective cardholders in the form of our first localized TV commercial. We are sure that this campaign will further strengthen MasterCard's brand messages amongst our member banks as well."

The Middle Eastern "Priceless" TV commercial revolves around the concept of the demands of 21st century living for Arabic families. Entitled 'Meeting', the advertisement illustrates the challenges of balancing work and family life in contemporary Arabic society.

The story scenario is of an Arab business man who travels extensively. Still, the business man makes the time to ensure that he can spend "Priceless" moments with his family. The TV commercial ends with the catch line "There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there is MasterCard".  

The "Priceless" campaign was originally developed and launched in October 1997, and has aired in 97 countries and 47 languages around the globe. The campaign has evolved to become a case study in successful global advertising.  Having earned several major creative awards in the industry, and more than 100 individual awards, "Priceless" has helped strengthen MasterCard's business over the past seven years. The campaign is routinely heralded as one of the most successful campaigns ever created.

An example of the various industry accolades received: A Gold Effie for Sustained Success in 2001;  A Bronze Lion at Cannes;  Adweek Magazine's 'Spot of the Year' Award;  Advertising Women of New York 'Good' Award; and A Cresta Award, to name a few.

Beyond the impact that "Priceless" has had on MasterCard's core business, the campaign has also registered impressive results amongst consumers.  According to MasterCard's proprietary research, awareness among consumers has increased significantly; MasterCard's advertising rating is the highest in the financial payment category; and claimed ownership and usage of MasterCard cards continues to increase on a yearly basis.

-Ends-

About MasterCard International
MasterCard International is a leading global payments solutions company that provides a broad variety of innovative services in support of our global members' credit, deposit access, electronic cash, business-to-business and related payment programs. MasterCard International manages a family of well-known, widely accepted payment card brands including MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus and serves financial institutions, consumers and businesses in over 210 countries and territories. The MasterCard award-winning Priceless advertising campaign is now seen in 97 countries and in 47 languages, giving the MasterCard brand a truly global reach and scope.   For more information go to www.mastercardinternational.com.

Contacts:
Jenny Hamdan,
MasterCard International,
9714 391 4200
Email: jenny_hamdan@mastercard.com

Lara Irvine,
Promoseven Weber Shandwick,
9714 3210077
Email: lara.irvine@promoseven.com  

© Press Release 2004