Client MasterCard WorldWide
Sector Means of Payment · Tourism
Date 2013–2014
Site priceless.com
In the summer of 2013, MasterCard Worldwide launched an international programme to encourage the use of its credit cards among their American customers abroad on holiday. Thanks to our extensive experience in the tourist sector, Idonika was chosen to lead the project with Madrid as the pilot city. In a short period of time we designed experiences, renegotiated agreements and introduced additional benefits from organisations not included in Priceless Madrid, always bearing in mind the end customer.
We also devised a comprehensive promotional strategy that included interacting with American visitors from the moment they arrived—in the actual airport, at their lodgings—in their hotel rooms, and during their stay—with the main tourist attractions as a support. All this would be completed with a communication campaign on the digital television channels of the American cities encompassed in the Priceless Cities project.
City. 01–31.08.2013
At the end of my academic year I was about to set out on a journey to the main European cities to see the gems of Impressionism housed in their museums. In Madrid, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza awaited me with its extensive collection of works from the period. Yet I was in for a surprise when I arrived at the airport and discovered that the work of Camille Pissarro, described by Cézanne, the mentor of the group, as ‘humble and colossal’ was on display in a huge retrospective exhibition in the museum’s galleries. The originals were infinitely better than the reproductions I had seen in books, although I must say that I purchased the exhibition catalogue at a considerable discount.
Sport. 01–31.08.2013
I had been in Madrid a few days and yes, I was enjoying my stay: the food was excellent, the shows couldn’t have been better and my visits to some of the top museums were very rewarding, yet I missed practising sport. I know that may sound a little strange when you’re on holiday in a foreign country, however, the programme I’d found in my hotel room proposed an ideal plan: practising sport while visiting the city. I could take different routes, even by night—which seemed to be the best idea given the high temperatures. There is no need to say that I took them all and that back at home I was still in perfect physical shape.
Commerce. 01–31.08.2013
This was our last night in Madrid and we had been invited to a farewell party. We had absolutely nothing to wear and, above all, we had less than enough time to buy the last gifts we had promised our relatives and friends. Then, as we were trying to figure out how to solve the problem, we spotted the guide we had been given at the hotel and realised we could get everything done with a personal shopper who knew exactly how to meet our needs. We found everything in the so-called ‘Golden Mile,’ and were even able to enjoy a proper beauty session and time to relax before our appointment.
Spectacle. 01–26.08.2013
My family had decided that this year we would go on a trip together to Spain, and that our base would be Madrid. My father had been gathering information for some time, and kept hearing that flamenco was definitely an experience not to be missed. The programme awaiting us in our hotel room told us that the Original Flamenco Festival was staged at two theatres on Gran Vía—the Compac Gran Vía and the Pequeño Teatro Gran Vía, precisely during our stay. So, we made our booking and flamenco became our first experience in Madrid, one we would repeat every night during the time we remained in the city.
