Philippine banks shine at MasterCard Hall of Fame Marketing Awards

Three Philippine financial institutions took home top honors in MasterCard Worldwide’s Hall of Fame Marketing Awards, which had its inaugural launch in Singapore on Dec. 1.

Banco De Oro, Allied Bank and RCBC Bankard won three out of the 10 awards — Best Cardholder Promotion, Most Effective Card Marketing Program and Best Usage Campaign (Cross-border), respectively — for their outstanding marketing efforts in launching or promoting MasterCard card programs in South and Southeast Asia. Their wins inducted them, along with 23 other Asian banks, into MasterCard’s Marketing Hall of Fame.

“We see some very remarkable, very creative, very innovative advertising and marketing programs — the best in this part of the world,” said Ajay Bhalla, executive vice president, South East and South Asia, MasterCard Worldwide. “Every year we will honor all the most interesting, consumer-revealing advertising and marketing. It was very hard because we received more than 200 entries and there are only 10 awards, but with help of Media Magazine Asia, we came up with a shortlist.”

The awards also showcase the latest marketing and consumer-behavior trends in the card payments industry.

“First of all, contrary to what everybody expected, consumer spending did not actually go down,” said Bhalla. “If you look at all the markets, basically consumer spend stayed at very decent levels. Second was that if consumers used to spend a few hundred dollars on a meal, they cut it down by 15 to 20 percent, so the ticket size came down.

“Another big new trend is that consumers are starting to use their debit cards instead of their credit cards as a way of managing their expenses.”

Bhalla acknowledged that 2009 was one of the “worst years” ever if you worked in financial services: “I have had to clarify to people that MasterCard is not getting out of the payments business — we are serious about the payments business — but there was a time in February, March, when every newspaper predicted that the future of financial services was zero,” he said. “I was thinking maybe I could grow potatoes via tractor.”

Which is why it was fitting that MasterCard dubbed its first awards night “A Harvest Celebration,” themed around the idea of farmers reaping the rewards of an entire year of hard work.

“In the end most organizations have survived it, most people have heaved a sigh of relief that the year is behind us.”

MasterCard picked its 10 winners after reviewing the card marketing campaigns launched by banks region-wide over the past year. The top award was Best-In-Class, won by Malaysia’s CIMB Bank Berhad for its Enrich World MasterCard credit card. For this award, which honored the overall best-performing card marketing campaign, the judges were looking for an integrated card marketing campaign targeted at specific segments that delivered by improving market share and enhancing customer loyalty.

“The Hall of Fame Marketing Awards was developed as a way to applaud the teams for their ability to really understand and capture the imagination of MasterCard cardholders, providing them with benefits that are truly priceless,” Bhalla continued. “Innovative and creative marketing campaigns are fundamental to our business and we ourselves are constantly innovating to build our brand through our Priceless campaigns, global destination event sponsorships and creating unique cardholder experiences around the world.”

Across six markets and almost 200 entries, these three winning Pinoy campaigns stood out:

BDO won Best Cardholder Promotion for its “Exclusive 5% Rebate” at the largest mall chain in the Philippines, SM. It was an effective strategy that drove impressive results in billings as well as installment billings. At SM Department Store, aggressive in-store advertising with tent cards, posters, cashier caps/visors/button pins and even advertising on the shopping bags ensured that cardholders made BDO credit cards their card of choice. MasterCard judged this category on strategy (35 percent), creativity (30 percent) and quantitative results (35 percent).

In Allied Bank’s win for Most Effective Card Marketing Program, strategy (50 percent) and quantitative results (50 percent) were critical. Allied entered the cards market by offering “P35 to a Mile,” a very competitive program converting rewards points to miles, demonstrating a clear, well-thought-out strategy to target new cardholders and increase usage among existing cardholders. Through the use of integrated media (print, TV and radio), Allied Bank achieved great success with its campaign, which was demonstrated by gains in billing and card counts.

“It’s a validation to win,” said Fol C. Rana Jr., senior vice president and Card Center head of Allied Bank’s Credit Card Department, after accepting the award. “Now hopefully I won’t have any trouble getting my budgets passed next year.”

Bankard, which won Best Usage Campaign (Cross-border) for its “3 Reasons to Travel in Style,” showed clear communication with its cardholders by highlighting key reasons for cardholders to use their cards on international spends. In addition, the positive results on international billings and transactions and the cost-effective marketing strategy employed sealed the win. The category was judged on strategy targeting international spend (40 percent) and quantitative results (30 percent), followed by creativity and media/channel strategy.

“The Philippine campaigns were really substantive,” said Poch Villa-Real, MasterCard’s VP and senior country manager. “And it helped that they were really diligent about submitting their entries.”

The judging panel consisted of David Tiltman, managing editor of Media Magazine Asia, as well as members of MasterCard’s senior management team, including Bhalla and Ai June Schult, vice president and marketing head, South East and South Asia.

“We were very impressed with the entries that we received, which showcased the marketing diversity, sophistication and excellence of our financial institutions in this part of the world today,” added Bhalla.

The awards night gala dinner was held at the six-star Capella Hotel in Sentosa, Singapore. The 260 guests who attended came in red-carpet glamour and were treated to a gourmet dinner and dessert bar, a fashion show by Escada, musical entertainment by violinist Min Lee and bossa-nova singer Olivia Ong, and a performance by artistic aqua performer Helena from Germany.

2009 MasterCard Hall of Fame Marketing awardees

BEST-IN-CLASS

CIMB Bank Berhad for CIMB Enrich World MasterCard Card (Malaysia)

Finalists

• Bank of the Philippine Islands for Express Credit: Real Thrills (Philippines)

• ABN AMRO Bank for Early Birds Fly (India)

• Standard Chartered India for Emirates Cobrand Credit Card (India)

BEST CARDHOLDER PROMOTION

• Banco De Oro Unibank, Inc., for BDO Exclusive 5 percent Rebate (Philippines)

• MBF Cards for Saturday Got 5 Fever (Malaysia)

Finalists

• OCBC Bank for Travel with OCBC Titanium (Singapore)

• ABN AMRO Bank for Early Birds Fly (India)

MOST EFFECTIVE CARD MARKETING PROGRAM

Allied Banking Corporation for P35 to a Mile (Philippines)

Finalists

• HSBC Philippines for Red Points of Value (Philippines)

• GE Money Indonesia for 5 x Reward Point (Indonesia)

• Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad for Transforming Your Lifestyle (Malaysia)

MOST INNOVATIVE CARD MARKETING PROGRAM

Siam Commercial Bank PCL for SCB Titanium Family Plus Launch (Thailand)

Finalists

• Bank of the Philippine Islands for Express Credit: Real Thrills (Philippines)

• Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad for You:nique (Malaysia)

• RHB Bank Berhad for RHB Travel Money Credit Card (Malaysia)

BEST NEW CARD LAUNCH/RELAUNCH

Krungthai Card PCL for KTC Royal Orchid Plus World MasterCard launch (Thailand)

Finalists

• HSBC Philippines for HSBC Red MasterCard (Philippines)

• United Overseas Bank Limited for UOB Preferred World MasterCard (Singapore)

• Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad for Alliance Bank You:nique MasterCard (Malaysia)

BEST LOYALTY PROGRAM

United Overseas Bank for UOB Lady’s 20th Anniversary (Singapore)

Finalists

• AmBank (M) Berhad for I Am Me (Malaysia)

• ABN AMRO Bank for Premium Debit Card Recarding (India)

• Krungthai Card PCL for KTC TDP Titanium (Thailand)

BEST ACTIVATION/ACQUISITION PROGRAM

OCBC Bank for OCBC Titanium F1 Rocks Activation DM (Singapore)

Finalists

• Bank of the Philippine Islands for Segmented Acquisition Campaign (Philippines)

• Citibank Indonesia for Garuda International MasterCard “Double Miles” campaign (Indonesia)

• Malayan Banking Berhad for Maybankard Premium “Boost” campaign (Malaysia)

BEST USAGE CAMPAIGN (CROSS-BORDER)

Bankard, Inc. for RCBC Bankard 3 Reasons to Travel in Style (Philippines)

Finalists

• CIMB Bank Berhad for The Great Singapore Sale Usage Promotion (Singapore)

• DBS Bank for DBS MasterCard Cross Border Promotion (Singapore)

• OCBC Bank Berhad for The Great Singapore Sale Usage Promotion (Malaysia)

BEST USAGE CAMPAIGN (OVERALL)

DBS Bank for DBS Debit Card Usage campaign (Singapore)

Finalists

• Kasikornbank PCL for Platinum New Value Proposition (Thailand)

• Citibank Indonesia for Garuda International MasterCard “Double Miles” campaign (Indonesia)

• CIMB Bank Berhad for Enrich Golden Lounge Usage promotion (Malaysia)

BEST CREATIVE EXECUTION

Citibank India for Citi Tap and Pay (India)

Finalists

• EON Bank Group for Pavilion Credit Card (Malaysia)

• Siam Commercial Bank PCL for SCB Debit Plus (Thailand)

• General Card Services Ltd. for Central MasterCard Your Identity … Anywhere (Thailand)