Mastercard races after F1 fans with priceless experiences

Mastercard is gearing up to engage with F1 fans in Melbourne through its sponsorship of McLaren Racing.

Mastercard has signed a global sponsorship deal with McLaren Racing to bring its priceless positioning to Formula One fans.

Mastercard is driving its priceless positioning into this year’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix through its sponsorship with McLaren Racing.

As part of a global sponsorship deal the brand signed last year, Mastercard will provide fans with priceless experiences, including the chance to meet driver Oscar Piastri.

The move is part of the brand’s strategy to connect with consumers around the world by tapping into their passions for sports, food, music, entertainment and fashion, said Mastercard Australia’s vice-president of marketing and communications, Florencia Aimo.

Mastercard VP of marketing and communications Florencia Aimo

“A study that we did recently shows that people are selecting to spend money on their passions …” Ms Aimo said. “So, that we go into these passion areas makes sense, because it’s driving commercial results. And from a brand perspective it’s about how we can be the enablers to your lifestyle and help you get closer to your passions.

“Mastercard is an enabler brand, it’s a connector and we’re trying to always create that sweet spot between functional and emotional, where we create those incredible experiences for our customers or our cardholders.

“McLaren gives us access to that sweet spot, whether it is (by) sitting in the pit watching the race with the team or going into the paddock, or the garage and being able to touch one of the wheels, it’s something truly unique. All of those things are really truly special for the people that are fans of the team.”

Ms Aimo said these experiences were also crucial ways to bring the brand’s longstanding priceless messaging to life, especially for younger consumers that may not be familiar with the iconic 28-year-old TV ads.

“We’re trying to discover how we continue to modernise priceless today, and whether we do other big campaigns like that, or these experiential initiatives. So instead of seeing them in a TV ad or on social media, they actually live it themselves, and they understand what priceless is through a more personal lens.”

The McLaren Racing sponsorship is one of five major partnerships that Mastercard has created to engage with cardholders and merchant partners locally. In addition to McLaren Racing, there is the Australian Open, a partnership with Broadsheet to create curated dining experiences, and a partnership with Live Nation to provide music experiences such as going backstage at concerts and other meet-and-greet opportunities with artists.

“The younger generations, they don’t want to see it, they want to live it,” Ms Aimo said. “They want to be the main character, so that’s how we’re interpreting priceless these days. It’s about how we give people access to these experiences.”

The surge in growth of F1 audiences off the back of the Netflix hit show Drive to Survive was one of the key drivers behind Mastercard’s decision to seek out sponsorship opportunities within the sport. Ms Aimo said the international aspect of F1 was also a strong drawcard.

“One of the reasons we were so attracted to (McLaren Racing) was because, as a global organisation, it gives us opportunities to connect with fans in different parts of the world, in 24 different cities, through an always-on event that runs through the majority of the year,” she said.

Formula One is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, with one in three fans only starting to follow the sport within the last five years, according to the F1.

Last year’s Grand Prix in Melbourne attracted its largest crowd to date with 452,055 spectators across the weekend. The crowd was the third-largest for a Formula One Grand Prix, according to the F1.