Mastercard wanted to increase awareness and create an informative campaign illustrating that the card could be used for public transportation and to increase the number of Mastercard uses in public transit in Istanbul.
As part of its brand awareness campaign, Mastercard targeted all people using public transportation in Istanbul.
In Istanbul, public transportation was previously accessible only with an Istanbulcard which is provided by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, barring those without one from using the services. However, infrastructure improvements made in the last quarter of 2023 enabled the use of Mastercard for public transit. Thus, the company launched a campaign in early 2024 to announce this new service.
To announce the launch of Contactless Mastercard's use in Istanbul's public transportation, the company partnered with AI artist Beyza Doguc. Beyza created a unique song for Istanbul by blending sounds she recorded while exploring the city with beats generated through AI, using data from Istanbul's public transport system. She also shared a video on her social media explaining how she made the song. The music video, showcasing Beyza's adventures collecting sounds across Istanbul, was released on both Mastercard's and Beyza Doguc's channels.
It would now be possible to use all public transportation in the city with a contactless Mastercard. To announce this significant news, Mastercard initiated a special project: A Song of Istanbul.
First, Mastercard met with AI artist Beyza Doğuç. Beyza started exploring Istanbul using her Mastercard and collecting sounds from the city. Then, she processed the city's public transportation data into a beat using artificial intelligence (AI).
Using both the collected sounds and the AI-generated beat, Beyza created a brand-new song. In short, the song not only described Istanbul but was also sourced from the city itself. The music video, showcasing Beyza's adventures collecting sounds across Istanbul, was released on both Mastercard's and Beyza Doguc's channels.
The campaign promoted the use of contactless Mastercard in public transportation in Istanbul which launched in early 2024, after the technical infrastructure was finalized. Prior to this service going live, Istanbul's public transportation could only be accessed using the Istanbulcard, which is produced and distributed by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
Mastercard's film was viewed over 30 million times. The message had been heard. After its campaign, the use of Mastercard in public transportation increased by a rate of 72 percent.
