Mastercard Looked to Start Something Priceless with SZA at the Mastercard House
Recently I had the pleasure of attending the first night of a Mastercard curated event that sought to celebrate the upcoming GRAMMY Awards and to introduce its new branding strategy aimed at unlocking creative potential. The initiative, entitled “Start Something Priceless”, focuses on the idea that a bit of change can go a long way to bettering your life. Mastercard has gone all-in with this premise as they have taken their “Priceless” branding and revamped it to narrow in on moments in life and not physical possessions.
On hand at the event was Mastercard Chief Marketing Officer Raja Rajamannar, one of the driving forces behind #StartSomethingPriceless. He explained how Mastercard hopes the initiative will inspire individuals to act more on their dreams and to become more active within their communities. Mastercard is one of the world’s largest payments platforms and has established relationships with other well known entities in finance, sports, entertainment and charitable work to name a few. Having already partnered with the GRAMMY’S to bring this event to fruition, it’s safe to say there may be more in the works for the Start Something Priceless movement.
The event was dripping with musical nostalgia and bombast. The Mastercard House was decorated with vinyls and professional portraits of musicians from past and present. Each of the vinyls on display, from Prince to Madonna, Jay Z to Billy Joel, would eventually be on sale throughout the week. Along with the records on display, there were other musical accoutrements tastefully placed in the area, such as DJ tables and electric guitars. There was even a recording booth with a live band playing cover tracks.
Mastercard also had a collaboration with SZA to influence six up and coming artists. SZA is the most nominated female artist of this year’s GRAMMY Awards. After a brief Q&A session with the performer, Mastercard then debuted a new music video consisting of SZA and the six up and comers. This piece perfectly encapsulates the essence of the evening, shining a light on performers not yet known to the mainstream public.
Mastercard has gotten off to a great start in 2018 with their Start Something Priceless initiative. We can only look forward to more great couplings from the payments juggernaut in the future.