The Digital & e-Commerce Engine is a new marketing system that integrates 20 data technologies into one big data dashboard, turning it into a real-time decision making tool.

In this case study from India, we’ll show you how that data was core to our storytelling at every level in: (1) Creating a powerful emotional brand story, (2) Customising a host of merchant offers to make them relevant in real-time, and (3) Giving back to a cause that millions of Indians care about.

The Priceless storytelling journey begins by selecting the right moment to launch an Engine campaign. Our goal is for the campaign to become part of a big conversation our audience is already having, and use that conversation as an amplifier for MasterCard.

To do this, we collect and analyse current and past data from Facebook (both public AND private data), Twitter, Google, and popular forums in India, to find the right “Trigger” to tap into. This Trigger is critical in integrating the emotional and functional elements of our story.

For our Indian Engine campaign, we found a perfect Trigger: Independence Day. It not only delivered beautiful emotional appeal, but it’s also one of the biggest annual shopping days.

THE EMOTIONAL INSIGHT.

Digging further into social data from conversations about Independence Day the previous year, we noticed something interesting that helped move us away from conventional national pride insights about India’s economic boom: conversations celebrating the humble efforts of everyday heroes whose individual contributions have helped India rise. The insight had gained significantly higher consumer traction. They were interesting stories that people loved sharing, so we used this insight to develop our campaign idea:

LET’S CELEBRATE THE POWER OF ONE BY RECOGNISING OUR NATION’S UNSUNG HEROES, THOSE INDIVIDUALS IN OUR COMMUNITIES WHOSE SELFLESS ACTIONS AND THEIR PASSION FOR MAKING INDIA RISE ARE A SOURCE OF PRIDE AND INSPIRATION FOR US ALL.

This idea would then be used as a call-to-action to encourage consumer-generated storytelling that would then merge with the MasterCard brand experience.

MERCHANT MATCHING.

To support this strong emotional territory with solid purchasing proof-points, we then curated a series of merchant offers specifically for Independence Day through three categories: Celebration, Recognition, and Gratitude: from celebrating Bollywood icons with BookMyShow.com, recognising someone who does good for their community with a gift from Jabong.com, to giving back with a dinner at a Marriott restaurant.

Our Independence Day Engine Campaign was a huge success as we were able to create a brand narrative that delivered significant cut-through, making MasterCard both functionally and emotionally relevant to their lives.

To measure our data storytelling success, we evaluated three key check-points: Weighted Engagement, Earned Media Value, and Merchant Offer Follow-Through.

(1) WEIGHTED ENGAGEMENT:

Facebook Weighted Engagement by

7.5x against the Financial Services industry average,

5.6x against the e-Commerce industry average, and

9.6x against the Retail industry average.

(2) EARNED MEDIA VALUE:

By using data to identify the right narrative for our brand, offer communication and CSR, we achieved an actual media value of 627% greater than the media investment,

A testament to the high impact and shareability of our content,

As evidenced by the more than 6.5M engagements and 1.8M video views.

(2) MERCHANT OFFER FOLLOW-THROUGH:

The campaign achieved a massive 340% increase over the industry benchmark in merchant click-through-rate,

Generating 1.2M qualified merchant leads.

Overall, the campaign resulted in double-digit transaction volume growth,

Outpacing the month-on-month growth from the previous year by a whopping 500%.