Life Takes Visa but Priceless Moments Take Mastercard
My very good friend, Zach Braiker, and I just had a great conversation today about the differences between the Mastercard and Visa marketing campaigns. Mastercard has the now famous, “there are some things in life money can’t buy, but for all other things there’s Mastercard” priceless campaign emphasizing that Mastercard is perfect for all those special moments in life. Visa on the other hand takes a much broader approach with the “Life Takes Visa” campaign, emphasizing that Visa is, in fact, for everything in life, not just the special moments.
Here’s the thing though, even though they happen much more frequently, I don’t care about the generic moments in my life: I simply don’t remember them. The priceless moments are the ones I look back on to laugh, cry, or reminisce over. The Mastercard ads resonate with me because not only are they hilarious, but they emphasis the special moments in my life that I care to remember. If I were to actually think about a credit card in those moments, I’d probably think of Mastercard.
Which brings me to my next point. Who the hell thinks about credit cards? Seriously, does anyone actually care if they have a Visa or a Mastercard? I might compare banks and rates and special offers (which are bank specific), but I couldn’t care less about the logo on my card. I’ve never been to a place in the US that doesn’t accept both (Europe is different and seems to have a preference for Mastercard). Do people actually think about this, or is this a case of Visa and MS maintaining consumer mind share in the face of each other’s ads? I don’t think they’re competing with each other so much as they are maintaining market share and trying to make sure that American Express doesn’t gain any at their expense.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
on August 1, 2007 at 4:46 am Katharine Osborne wrote:
It’s basically the Coke/Pepsi rivalry. They own the market, but they need to remind you that they exist. They are essentially the same beverage (both of which I dislike). Personally, I am more drawn to iconoclastic products (like Dr. Pepper and American Express) simply because they have a rebellious, underdog air, not unfortunately because they are any better products.
on August 1, 2007 at 3:01 pm Lorenz wrote:
I’d argue that how a product makes you feel makes it the better product. A macbook makes me feel sophisticated, an iPod hip, an AmEx card savvy. Their brand is the product.