Capturing Community Opinions of Mastercard’s Roll Out of £100 for Free

The Challenge

In collaboration with Ogilvy, Mastercard launched its #SpendLocal initiative in Jersey – a stimulus scheme created in response to the economic hardship caused by the pandemic. Every resident over 18 could register for a prepaid card loaded with 100 pounds to spend on the high street. Uptake was phenomenal. More than 90 percent of islanders engaged with the scheme, 103,000 cards were issued, and 10 million pounds was injected into the local economy.

Following the success of this worlds first card based stimulus scheme, a second wave was introduced in Northern Ireland. This time, Vox Pops International was asked to document the scheme in action – capturing the views of business owners, members of the public, and government officials from both Northern Ireland and Jersey who were overseeing the rollout.

To showcase the impact of the scheme as it happened, it was essential to hear from a broad mix of voices and to see how the money was being spent in real time. We focused on two key groups:

• Shop owners accepting #SpendLocal card payments
• Local residents using the cards on their high streets

Pre recruited vox pops were the natural solution. Because we could not rely on stopping people on the day and hoping they had signed up, pre recruiting both card holders and participating businesses meant we could be confident of speaking to the right people, at the right moments, without wasting valuable time.

To create a rich and dynamic film, we combined these interviews with b roll showing Mastercard branding and #SpendLocal promotion, busy shopping streets, and activity inside the stores featured in the interviews. The entire project was filmed in 4K, which required careful on site data management to handle large file sizes, organise footage daily, and prepare everything for handover. Once production wrapped, all assets were delivered to Ogilvy to begin the edit.

The rollout in Northern Ireland exceeded expectations. A total of 1.4 million #SpendLocal cards were issued, injecting 136.6 million pounds into the local economy (Economy News, 2022). The final video acted as a powerful testimonial for the success of the scheme, combining human stories with impressive numbers.

Alongside the headline results, the film now serves as a compelling marketing asset to support future phases of #SpendLocal and similar stimulus programmes in larger markets and other countries.