Since MasterCard is committed to fostering entrepreneurialism, and SXSW is at the heart of innovation and discovery… Fueling the entrepreneurial spirit of SXSW event-goers seemed like a Priceless opportunity.

MasterCard built a real-life elevator to host The Priceless Elevator Pitch – a space for people to pitch their ideas, connect with potential investors, and have a chance to win $15,000 in startup funding.

Leading up to the activation, teaser content was distributed via MasterCard & Mashable social channels; and short-form videos were produced by famous venture capitalists to help everyone prepare to pitch.

Every pitch was then turned into live feed content – and through partnerships with Twitter and FourSquare, MasterCard was able to target SXSW attendees, expose them to its content and ultimately draw them to the event space.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners represent a big opportunity for MasterCard, but they don’t think of MasterCard as a brand with their interest in mind.

Aimed at increasing affinity vis-à-vis the start up and small biz community, MasterCard set out to win the hearts and minds of SXSW’s 33,000 startups attending the event.

But… How to cut through the sea of giveaways?

The answer: Instead of giving stuff away…give them an opportunity.

And with that in mind, MasterCard set out to serve a fun and rewarding way to impact their budding businesses; helping them get invaluable exposure, mentorship and financial help.

The Priceless Elevator Pitch helped drive awareness of MasterCard as a brand for small businesses and entrepreneurs – achieving over 12,000,000 impressions amongst mediums targeting the entrepreneur and small business community, with over 90,000 engagements. In addition to the chance to pitch their ideas, every pitch video was instantly uploaded to MasterCard’s Twitter and YouTube page, giving them massive exposure on both paid channels (Twitter) and Meerkat.

This activation helped MasterCard be perceived as an enabler of innovation and supporter of entrepreneurs. Massive PR buzz from publications like Entrepreneur Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, Fortune, Yahoo, etc. praised the activation and ranked it among the best events at SxSW for entrepreneurs to visit. MasterCard also received press in the digital space for becoming the first brand to be listed on Meerkat’s leaderboards during a live activation.

The Priceless Elevator pitch enabled us to be relevant to current and future entrepreneurs, driving awareness and affinity towards our brand.

Due to the its real-time aspect, our promotional plan was constantly evolving, but included:

• Media partner integration with Mashable (teaser articles and coaching videos posted on Mashable.com for 2 weeks leading up to event)

• Paid Tweets to tease the activation for 2 weeks leaving up to event

• Instagram teaser posts

• Social influencer & PR outreach to local entrepreneurs

• Foursquare activation in Austin to draw cardholders to event space

• Real-time pitch video at MasterCard’s Twitter page and a co-branded Mashable YouTube channel

• Post-event coverage of semifinalists and winners

• MasterCard also surprised cardholders with services to support their ventures— $10K in advertising credits on Mashable and a $75K subscription to Spredfast analytics.