MasterCard Europe will unveil a major new marketing platform around its
sponsorship of the UEFA EURO 2008 football championships, opening up
the coveted sponsorship property for the first time to Maestro® issuers.
As an official sponsor of EURO 2008 – Europe’s leading sporting event –
MasterCard will provide its partner banks with access to a series of
exclusive ‘assets’, which can be used to promote Maestro-branded debit
cards across Europe. Maestro issuers will be able to deploy powerful
marketing tools in their 2008 programs, including ticket competitions,
online and television branding opportunities, official mascots ?Trix and
Flix’ and EURO 2008 designations and marks.
The football championship property will be revealed as an integral part
of MasterCard’s SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) marketing and
communications strategy, to be outlined during the company’s 6th Debit
Card Conference in Athens, Greece and comes at a time when the European
Payments Council is calling for major communications efforts to raise
awareness of SEPA among consumers and the merchant community across
Europe1.
New research commissioned by MasterCard shows that awareness of SEPA
among consumers and merchants is low with only 9% of consumers and 16%
of merchants having heard of SEPA2 only 10 months before its introduction.
“EURO 2008 offers an unparalleled sponsorship opportunity – one that
we’ve already seen the benefits of with MasterCard-branded cards,” said
Pedro Rangel, Group Head of Marketing, MasterCard Europe.
“This is the first major pan-European debit card promotion ever
undertaken and we’re proud to make this valuable property available to
our customers. Maestro issuers, acquirers and merchants will be able to
power-up their debit platform and offer a distinct and exciting program
in SEPA’s debut year. The EURO 2008 football championship will be one of
the major sporting events for Europe – if not the world – next year and
will be an unrivaled fit for those aiming to raise awareness of Maestro
and MasterCard SEPA brands via millions of European fans.
“By becoming the first SEPA scheme to announce a major, pan-European
debit card promotional platform, MasterCard continues to lead the way in
supporting the banking community in achieving SEPA. The sponsorship
underlines the benefits of pan-European 1 EPC: Making SEPA a Reality
2 KRC Research: MasterCard SEPA Survey and global schemes over existing
national use only programs through greater economies of scale, wider
brand footprint and merchant acceptance.”
The UEFA European Championship 2008 will see Europe’s best 16 national
football teams compete in Austria and Switzerland between 7 and 29 June
2008. More than one million tickets are expected to be sold for the
event. The final draw for EURO 2008 takes place in Lucerne, Switzerland
on 2 December 2007.
About MasterCard Europe
MasterCard Europe is the entity responsible for managing MasterCard
Worldwide’s business in Europe – for Europe. With headquarters in
Waterloo, Belgium, MasterCard Europe works with 51 European countries
organized administratively into three customer areas, incorporating the
Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), mature markets and the developing
markets of Europe, stretching as far afield as the eastern border of
Russia. Through its network of local offices, MasterCard Europe can
understand and meet the diverse needs of customers in the very different
types of markets throughout Europe, enabling people to do business in
their own way in their own language.
Through MasterCard Worldwide, MasterCard Europe offers its European
customers and consumers access to leading payment services throughout
the world. MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a
critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses,
cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchiser, processor and
advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes
over 16 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading
analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and
merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®
and Cirrus®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210
countries and territories.
