MasterCard International on Friday picked McCann-Erickson New York for the creative portion of its $90 million U.S. advertising account after a six-month competition.
McCann succeeds Ammirati Puris Lintas in New York, which had declined to participate in a review for the account, which it had handled since 1992. Disagreement over strategies led to the split. McCann and Ammirati are both units of publicly held Interpublic Group of Companies.
McCann will break a new campaign for its new client in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, GSD&M in Austin, Texas, will continue on media planning. GSD&M’s Chicago office will continue on media buying for MasterCard, based in Purchase, N.Y.
MasterCard’s credit card market share has slipped recently. According to RAM Research Group in Frederick, Md., MasterCard had 26.6 percent of credit card charges in 1996, down from 30 percent a decade earlier. In 1996, Visa had a 51.9 percent share; American Express, 15.2 percent; and Discover, 6.2 percent.
