Purchase, NY-based MasterCard International last week activated its sponsorship of the July 10 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Seattle.
The credit card company is hosting an online Take Me Out to the Ballgame trivia game that will award a trip for 11 to play a game in a Major League ballpark. National TV spots featuring a new flight in the brand's ongoing "Priceless" campaign support, as does P-O-P in retail stores and inside member banks.
The majority of the brand's activity will take place on-site and revolve around the John Hancock All-Star FanFest, a festival taking place outside Seattle's Safeco Field July 6-10. MasterCard will host a game hyping new technology that embeds microchips in cards: Consumers receive a "MasterCard ScoreCard" when they enter the festival, then must get them scanned at three of 10 card readers positioned around the park for entry into a sweeps handing out trips to Safeco Field this fall. Other prizes include MLB merchandise and MasterCard-branded premiums.
Elsewhere on-site, a stand-alone 400-square-foot MasterCard Prize ClubHouse will hand-out premiums outside the stadium; one fan will be selected at random to receive $1 million if a player hits one of two MasterCard outfield signs during the Century 21 Home Run derby on July 9; and consumers who use their MasterCards inside the ballpark and at six satellite stores around Seattle will be entered to win baseball trips.
Ryan Partnership, Westport, CT, handles promotions; McCann-Erickson, New York City, ads; New York City-based Luminant interactive elements; and Larchmont, NY-based Octagon on-site execution.
