The power of humanness
Context
With the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the world in 2020, everyone was trying to avoid contact and spread. The MENA region was not exempt. Simple actions, like paying, became a hassle as they require contact. People generally either paid by cash or card; both requiring contact with elements that may not be sanitary. When people use credit card machines to pay, they were physically punching in their PIN codes and as such, touching a machine that had been used by many others. In fact, at the height of COVID, many were spraying their cards with sanitizers. Even as we slowly moved to flattening the curve and the return of near normalcy; the rule of thumb is the less contact with anything that has not been sanitized, the better.
Strategy & Work
To get the word out on contactless payment with Mastercard as a resolution to COVID-19 payment anxieties and highlight the ease of use as a simple “tap & go”, we partnered with 21 influential voices across 6 main markets in the Arab world.
We identified and selected key influencers in the UAE, KSA, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and Morocco. Each content creator communicated the simplicity, ease and speed of the Mastercard contactless feature. They also highlighted its necessity and relevance amid a COVID-19 world were contactless actions and features are pivotal.
However, in an exercise of co-creation, we worked with each influencer to create native and genuine content that resonates. The same key messages were approached and delivered in different manners by each different influence, to successfully showcase the contactless feature in a manner that resonates with their native audience.
As such, the content created under the singular umbrella of the “tap & go” move was highly diverse and ranged from comedy, to lifestyle, and sketches portraying daily struggles, as well as upbeat and fun videos.
