Mastercard Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)

Published in Services category by MBA Skool Team

Marketing Strategy of Mastercard analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on Mastercard marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the Mastercard Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:

Mastercard Product Strategy:

The product strategy and mix in Mastercard marketing strategy can be explained as follows:

Mastercard offers credit, debit and pre-paid cards along with various features and benefits for different targeted customers like: consumers, business, governments and public sector, merchants, issuers and other partners. Mastercard Global Service feature is available in all its products, it is an emergency assistance feature which is available anytime, anywhere and in any language. The products in the marketing mix of Mastercard are covered on the basis of the features and services offered.

For example: the card features for consumers is as follows:

Consumers

Type of cards


Features

Credit card

standard

Zero Liability Protection, Mastercard Global Service

platinum

Zero Liability Protection, Mastercard Global Service, Platinum Mastercard Rewards and Experiences

world

Mastercard Global Service, Concierge services, travel, dining, golf

world elite

Mastercard Global Service, 24*7 Concierge services, Explore the world-travel, Live with style-cuture, entertainment,dining, peace of mind - medical care or online purchase protection

Debit card

standard

Convenience, protection, Mastercard Global Service

world

Mastercard luxury hotels & resorts, special offers, membership benefits Mastercard Global Service, zero liability protection

platinum

Extended warrenty in partner stores, Price protection, Lost card, Conceirge services, Airport lounge access, Mastercard Global Service, Zero Liability Protection, Priceless Cities


Image: pixabay


Mastercard Price/Pricing Strategy:

Below is the pricing strategy in Mastercard marketing strategy:

Mastercard caters both the economical and premium sector and its prices are directly proportional to the features the customers want to have through the various available options in each customer segment. The pricing strategy in the marketing mix of Mastercard is mostly dependent on competitor offerings.

Also, the price for services is dependent upon the service taken, regulatory body rates etc.

Mastercard Place & Distribution Strategy:

Following is the distribution strategy in the Mastercard marketing mix:

Mastercard has made its presence feel across the globe. Mastercard is headquartered at New York and it has offices in Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America/ Caribbean, Middle East and Africa and North America. The place in the marketing mix of Mastercard is not only the offices but through the services offered. It spreads its services through digital means. Its website is up to date and provides information about all the services provided by the company.

Mastercard’s history, the products, their features, investor relations, offers and promotions, everything is mentioned on the website and anyone can access that with ease.


Mastercard Promotion & Advertising Strategy:

The promotional and advertising strategy in the Mastercard marketing strategy is as follows:

Mastercard is involved in various social activities, endorsements and sponsorships to maintain its image and create brand awareness amongst the customers. It has targeted social, governance and environmental factors for social sustainability. Mastercard sponsors major sporting events throughout the world like UEFA Champions League, Canadian Hockey League, Formula One racing, etc. The promotional strategy in the marketing mix of Mastercard focuses on brand awareness through all kinds of media and marketing activities. For the new generation it has launched its Contactless card. It has also signed a partnership with Skotch group to deal with the socio economic issues, ‘Smart India, Shrestha Bharat – from promises to delivery’. In India on Independence Day Mastercard launched a campaign of #celebrateHEROs and its most successful campaign till date was “priceless” campaign which was launched in 1997.


Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Mastercard.


People:

Mastercard cater the needs of consumers, business, governments and public sector, merchants, issuers and other partners. It believes that the core strategy to sustain in this competitive era and increased commitment of employees, is a diversified global workforce. Mastercard was also ranked amongst top 10 organisations for diversity, organised by DiversityInc. They also have a separate Global Diversity and Inclusion Council (GDIC) to serve the needs and vision of the organisation.


Physical Evidence:

Mastercard provides best in house facilities with up to date infrastructure and global environment in all its offices. The complete setup in Mastercard helps the employees to experience the best work environment so that they perform as per the organization’s expectations.


Process:

Mastercard has several business processes in place. Through the various social activities and best practices Mastercard maintains a good relation with its customers and investors, which in turn avoids a bad ‘word of mouth’. All these helps the organisation to grow in long term and motivates its employees to continue being loyal to it and give their best throughout their tenure. The customers are also successfully retained and new ones are attracted. Hence, all these give an overview on the marketing mix of Mastercard.


About Mastercard:

Mastercard is a financial services corporation founded in 1966 as Interbank Card Association (ICA). Later in 1969 after acquisition of Master charge, it got the name Mastercard in 1979. Mastercard was the first company to introduce a laser hologram on cards. Later through its partnerships, joint ventures, acquisitions with leading organisations like – Europay International, Orbiscom, DataCash, Travelex, Trevica, Truaxis, eServGlobal and Bics, Provus, C-SAM, Pinpoint and 5One, the company evolved to great heights from where it started. Mastercard labs is a dedicated segment under which innovation and new ideas are developed. It launched its most successful “priceless” ad campaign in 1997.

Mastercard strongly believes and follows it values on – trust, partnership, agility and initiative and its mission “Every day, everywhere, we use our technology and expertise to make payments safe, simple and smart” is rightly aligned to it. Mastercard focus on chip cards (for more security), SecureCore (One time passwords for online shopping), Mobile payments and Priceless feature (which includes Global concierge and zero liability protection).

This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

Browse marketing strategy and 4Ps analysis of more brands similar to Mastercard. The Marketing Strategy & Mix section covers 4Ps and 7Ps of more than 800 brands in 2 categories.

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The names and other brand information used in the Marketing Strategy & Mix section are properties of their respective companies. The companies are not associated with MBA Skool in any way.

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