PostAds Group serves as Mastercard's global production consultant and what an honor working on "The Red Ball" campaign! This production has everything: A-list brand ambassadors, various international shoot locations, intricate VFX, dozens of deliverables, designed for worldwide appeal and wonderfully creative - it even features Mastercard's new sonic identity.
A global campaign debuting in more than 45 countries, the use of seven A-list sports star brand ambassadors is designed to create adapted versions for local markets in all parts of the globe. The athletes include Lionel Messi, Neymar, Dan Carter, Bryan Habana, Annika Sorenstam, Ana Ivanovic and Valeri Kamensky, all connecting with each over social media using Mastercard tap and go payment technology to chase a red ball across various continents and cultures.
The latest #StartSomethingPriceless effort plays on themes of teamwork, goodwill and generosity as the stars unite to return the red ball to its rightful owner, a little girl and her dog.The tagline "Together Everything is Possible" punctuates the emotion toward the end of the story. The McCann-created spot runs 1:50 and the production overall created dozens of digital, social and mobile deliverables cut from the primary commercial.
The orchestral theme music is also the first place we hear Mastercard's new sonic identity, which Mastercard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Raja Rajamannar recently discussed at the Association of National Advertisers Financial Management Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. The red ball also represents one-half of Mastercard's iconic logo, newly updated and streamlined by removing all previous typography from its decades-long former branding.
"We've always been a brand focused on experiences over things, and are thrilled to see our global ambassadors uniting to demonstrated in a light-hearted way, that together everything is possible. It is a message we hope reminds people that we are all stronger when we come together, and have some fun with it too," says Rajamannar.
For PostAds Group the wide-ranging and complicated production represents the ultimate content creation experience a consultant can hope for: working with an iconic brand, interacting with large regional agency teams all collaborating on a global execution, reviewing the different approaches proposed by best-in-class suppliers, negotiating various aspects of the production and finishing, balancing the competing forces of creativity and budget constraints - and having it all come together for a resounding success. Wait for it...."priceless"!