Company: Mastercard, Miami, FL
Company Description: Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Internal Communications - 100 or More Employees
 Nomination Title: Mastercard's Decrypted Series in LAC
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
July 14, 2022.
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 237 words used.
In July 2022, Mastercard's Internal Communications team in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) launched DECRYPTED, a new employee information series designed to provide the region's 1,200 employees with exclusive content to help them better understand the basics of cryptocurrencies and their connection to the company's business strategy.
The exponential growth of digital currencies in LAC presented a major opportunity for Mastercard and quickly became a top business priority. AMI Survey Data (September 2021) showed almost every consumer in the region was familiar with cryptocurrencies and 26% had purchased or shown interest in them. Moreover, the New Payments Index 2022 by Mastercard revealed that 51% of Latin American consumers had conducted crypto transactions.
LAC employees had voiced a growing curiosity and need for more information about the digital currency revolution and—more importantly—Mastercard’s role and strategy in this new space. Corporate communications and internal initiatives related to the company's crypto endeavors sparked interest among the teams. For example, a live session on cryptocurrencies was one of the most attended events in 2021.
In response to this demand, DECRYPTED was created. This original digital series encompassed several formats, including weekly "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) live sessions covering topics like Blockchain, Bitcoin, Exchanges, NFTs, and more. It also contained didactic videos featuring internal experts and had a dedicated landing page on the company's intranet—theHUB—with on-demand content. The series was further enhanced with challenges and learning resources from other areas.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 243 words used.
GOALS
1. Inform LAC employees about Mastercard's business strategy in the crypto space, while also providing essential materials and core content for understanding the key aspects of this emerging industry.
2. Position Mastercard's crypto experts as thought leaders, reinforcing the internal perception of the company as a key player.
STRATEGY
The Internal Communications team set out to:
_ Design and produce an agile, engaging, and visually compelling information series using original content and resources.
_ Feature internal and external crypto experts.
_ Create multi-format digital experiences.
_ Extend the series with a dedicated DECRYPTED landing page, serving as a repository for all the content from the series.
In partnership with the Products and Engineering and the Crypto-Blockchain and Commercial Products teams, Internal Communications identified:
_ Five crypto-related topics tied to Mastercard’s business strategy.
_ Four Mastercard crypto-experts in LAC who were willing to actively participate in co-creating the AMA sessions and the didactic videos.
_ The structure to present the DECRYPTED contents to employees on a weekly basis:
1. “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) one-hour live sessions.
2. Two-min original didactic videos.
3. On-demand content on the DECRYPTED landing page on the company’s intranet + weekly challenges.
The weekly frequency of the live sessions posed a significant challenge but the Internal Communications team was confident that this schedule would be the most effective in generating and maintaining interest, facilitating employee engagement, and achieving the desired impact in terms of internalizing information and key messages.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2019. Even if your initiative started before 2021, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2021 only (up to 250 words):
Total 247 words used.
DECRYPTED demanded an arduous four-month development process, involving tasks such as creating an internal brandand digital animated environments, developing conversation guides for the AMA sessions speakers and moderators, and crafting detailed scripts for recording the didactic videos, to name just a few.
The launch of DECRYPTED was announced during LAC's Town Hall at the end of May. A few days later a comprehensive internal communication plan was activated on all the company’s internal communication channels with weekly updates.
As a result, well before the official kick-off session on July 14, LAC employees were fully aware of the five AMA schedule, the channels, resources, and activations.
RESULTS
_ Five weekly AMA sessions and five didactical videos, plus an exclusive landing page on Mastercard’s intranet site (the HUB).
_ An average of 350 employees participated in each AMA live session.
_ 100% of attendees found the sessions to be of value, and 98% found the content easy to understand.
_ 15+ promotional materials circulated via email, LAC Insider (the regional newsletter for employees), and bulletin boards in a space of five weeks.
_ 400+ employees visited the Decrypted landing page on the HUB.
_ Post-AMA session emails had open rates as high as 70%.
_ LAC Insider editions with the AMA recaps had open rates as high as 63%.
_ In February 2023 the Mastercard Global team expanded the reach of DECRYPTED by premiering the first AMA session for employees worldwide, featuring Raj Dhamodharan, EVP of Blockchain at Mastercard.
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 64 words used.
[REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
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