“Good Morning Venkat, You are now part of the ‘Start Something Priceless’ journey ” : These might be the words that will be welcoming my friend, when he joins MasterCard Dublin office today.

In the last 53 years, since the company started in 1966, it has gone through brand transitions and keeps pace with the changing eco system around us. They started their ‘Digital Transformation’ journey in the mid of 2016 with the launch of a New Brand mark. The last 3 years has seen a steady action packed transition happening to this ‘leading technology’ company delivering electronics payment. In the endeavor of being there for the customer at every touch point, Mastercard has ventured in to providing multi sensory Brand Expressions as well from the start of 2019.

When you are in a city where the climate tempts you to cuddle & sleep at peace, an alarm is what is required to kick start the day. Venkat can use ‘Sonic‘ as his alarm ring tone & get a feel of India. When you are away from your country , then even the remotest sense of something from there will encourage you to open your eyes wide.

Mastercard has given a voice to its logo. It is called the ‘Sonic‘. Physical, Digital and Voice payments done with the help of Mastercard will be getting this affirmative Sonic melody when the transaction is completed.

Mr. Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of Mastercard, can be heard in this video talking, at Cannes Lions, about the importance of Voice identity of the Mastercard brand.

Passion and Optimism are the two key attributes required to excel at anything. I am sure Venkat will put all his efforts and showcase his skills right from the start. But sometimes you get too much occupied with the work that your stomach will start giving signals for a refill. No worries, Mastercard is there to the rescue.

Mastercard has launched two original macaron flavors , Passion & Optimism , conceived by Kreémart & crafted by Laduree. As per the company article, Passion represents the company’s energy and commitment to helping people get closer to the things that they love. And Optimism signifies its confidence and efforts to making the world a better place. Together, they champion the brand’s platform to Start Something Priceless.

This gives the customers a chance to touch, feel and taste the brand. A very unique way to give special experiences to the customers. Mastercard says that they believe in “knowing the interest of the customers & anticipating their needs”.

The lunch breaks are the ‘Priceless‘ moment for any new employee joining an organisation. This is the time you will get to meet people, have casual conversations and understand the pulse of the work place.

Mastercard has opened up a restaurant called ‘Priceless‘ at the Spring Studios in the New York City. This will be catering to the consumers culinary passions. Priceless tastes have been carefully handpicked from across the globe and recreated in this Mastercard restaurant. Currently they have The Rock from Zanzibar, Lyaness from London and Teruzushi from Japan as part of this Priceless experience.

‘Rugby World Cup 2019′ – one of the most discussed topics in Dublin and other parts of Ireland now. Ireland has a great Rugby team and everyone is keeping their fingers crossed to witness the Trophy coming home.

While waiting to pick his son from the after school, Venkat will have a chance to interact with other parents. Sports is a great ice breaker and Rugby will give a heads up in this. So for a person working with Mastercard, there is so much happening around Rugby that it is easy to get into a conversation.

Mastercard has got their Sports marketing bang on the buck. They are presenting the player of the match trophy at the Rugby World Cup happening in Japan after each match. The ‘Live Trophy‘ is designed keeping in mind the traditional Origami style, along with the Social Media impressions of the fans during the game & the highlights of the game. This is a great memento as well as Trophy for the player of the match & also a good fan engagement tool. This truly fuels the Spirit of Sportsmanship by bringing together everyone involved with the game.

The weather condition in Dublin cannot be accurately predicted even by Google. So when walking around in Dublin, you prefer not to give much work to your hands. In addition to this, for people like Venkat who have to walk their kids back from school or get groceries from super market , a wearable saves lot of ‘time’.

Mastercard is touching the lives of the customer at numerous expected and unexpected junctures. Brand logo sound, macarons, restaurants ( there is one in Rome International Airport as well known as Bistro), helping Girls learn technology (Girls4Tech initiative), supporting farmers (helping small scale farmers connect with buyers), coming out with global destination information with details of city wise spends (Bangkok tops the list in regard with destination & Dubai tops the list in regard with per day spend by travelers) & so on , Mastercard definitely keeps reminding people that – some things are Priceless, for everything else there is Mastercard.

“People expect a lot, but sometimes what they don’t expect can make a more lasting impression,” said Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Mastercard.

From a Dubliner perspective: No one can predict Dublin weather. For everything else there is MasterCard 🙂

I wish Venkat all the best in his journey with this world class brand. A great place to ‘Start Something Priceless’.