How creator marketing has become key to Mastercard’s culture-hacking strategy

Fine dining and globe-trotting travel have been displacing mere objects as consumer status symbols ever since Instagram first arrived on the app store way back in 2010.

It’s a shift that brand marketers have long sought to connect with. Few have been as persistent as Mastercard, though. The payments brand first began marketing around “experiences” almost 10 years back, according to CMO Raja Rajamannar; it first unveiled its “Priceless.com” loyalty platform in 2016.

A recent survey by research firm Dynata of 15,000 European consumers appears to validate that strategy. Despite the hairy economic circumstances facing shoppers across the continent, 70% said they wouldn’t hold back from spending on experiences like eating out or tourism.

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Perplexity has offered ads for half a year — marketers already want scale

It’s only been six months since Perplexity launched its ad business, but advertisers are already hungry for it to grow up fast and prove it’s more than just another shiny object.

Six media buyers Digiday spoke to say they want to see more from the AI-powered search engine, which has been tested by the likes of Indeed, Whole Foods, Universal McCann and PMG since November, when they signed up as the first brand and agency partners to the platform. The ads, tucked beside answers and marked “sponsored” are subtle but the expectations are anything but. Marketers are curious, the buyers said, but Perplexity hasn’t offered enough ad opportunities to match that energy.

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Perplexity’s pitch deck offers advertisers a new vision for AI search

Perplexity hasn’t yet opened up new advertising opportunities beyond the limited pilot group, said one ad exec who exchanged anonymity for candor. However, the AI-platform’s Merchant Program — an initiative which also launched last November, and is designed to give large and small retailers access to Perplexity’s users seeking AI-powered shopping recommendations, as well as increase product visibility, without any commission fees — is another way to get on board.

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