When MasterCard Canada became a sponsor of Toronto Fashion Week in 2011, it signaled the brand's commitment to high fashion and fashion retail. To maximize the sponsorship's value, MasterCard needed to find a way to activate at the retail level to drive brand preference and usage.
After a pilot run in October 2011, MasterCard secured the title sponsorship of Fashion Week for Spring 2012, and successfully launched Stylicity as the official retail program of the event. Coming into its second season, the program was expected to show significant growth.
The objective was to demonstrate a measurable increase in unique MasterCard card usage, transaction volume and gross dollar volume at Stylicity partners; both brick and mortar locations and online retailers. Also, the company wanted to build upon the success of the inaugural season and grow consumer program awareness and participation, further establishing MasterCard Stylicity as the retail program associated with World MasterCard Fashion Week (WMCFW).
Toronto was not regarded as a fashion city like Paris, Milan or New York, yet various Toronto neighbourhoods have their own unique style and are hotbeds for fashion. Stylicity would leverage WMCFW and the unique offerings of Toronto's neighbourhoods to make Toronto the destination for all things fashionable. Online partners let Stylicity take the most fashionable places to shop national – and make Stylicity accessible to all Canadians.
In the two months leading up to the Oct. 15 launch, the most fashionable Toronto retail stores, restaurants and spas were recruited in key neighbourhoods (Queen West, West Queen West, King West and Yorkville), as well as national online retailers, to offer MasterCard cardholders exclusive discounts and experiences to coincide with WMCFW.
The creative was designed as an authentic reflection of the unique street-style and fashion of each neighbourhood. TSAs and wild postings featured real people styled in their own wardrobe on Stylicity branded backdrops representative of the red carpet step-and-repeats found at WMCFW. Recognizable locations in the heart of the Stylicity neighbourhoods served as the setting. The executions were interspersed with maps highlighting nearby Stylicity partner locations.
During Stylicity, the same backdrops were placed in key neighbourhoods with CSRs and a photographer to capture real-time street style and talk to consumers about Stylicity. Albums by neighbourhood were posted to the Stylicity blog and on Facebook to celebrate the style of the real people that make each neighbourhood unique.
Toronto-wide awareness was achieved with the expanded distribution of the Style Reporter, a custom fashion supplement distributed in Toronto's major newspapers, at WMCFW and in the neighbourhoods. The piece featured the full extent of the program's offers, integrated with neighbourhood editorial by key influencers (e.g. Joe Mimran for Yorkville).
Jeanne Beker came on board as the official spokesperson for Stylicity. She championed the program in print and online, and toured the neighbourhoods with a film crew to capture what made some of the Stylicity merchants of each area unique. The videos ran as digital pre-roll and sponsored content throughout eTalk's online network.
All media drove to the Stylicity, which also housed the full list of partners and an interactive map to help visitors discover the merchant partner locations. Local fashion bloggers posted about WMCFW and their Stylicity experiences. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest were also integrated.
The Search for Style Facebook contest encouraged even further engagement, sending consumers on a hunt through MasterCard's online properties to find the missing pieces of the outfit from the OOH in Facebook posts, Pinterest pins, etc., for a chance to with an all-expense paid trip to 2013 Spring WMCFW.
The campaign exceeded expectations, with significant year-over-year business results: close to 350% increase in unique MasterCard usage; more than 400% increase in number of MasterCard transactions; almost 55% increase in gross dollar volume spend on MasterCard cards.
The Stylicity blog received over 28,000 unique visitors and 56,000 unique page views, a 193% increase in engagement over the previous season. Facebook likes increased by more than 30% and the campaign generated more than 4 million Twitter impressions.
Merchant partners reported increased traffic to their stores and increased sales during the program, with partners clamoring to be involved for next season.