20 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
Private Bag 92250, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
+64 9 355 3553 | at.govt.nz
14 February 2025
Marcus
[FYI request #29840 email]
Your request for information under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
(LGOIMA)
– CAS-1046629-B6Y5Y7
Kia ora Marcus,
I refer to your request for official information dated 22 January 2025 regarding the Ways to Pay campaign.
The response below has been supplied by our Marketing Manager.
When it comes to using the brand marks of payment card service providers (Visa/Mastercard/American
Express) who appear in the Ways to Pay campaign, were any of the payment providers directly involved
in the campaign in any capacity, as opposed to say; just being able to use their brand marks as part of a
standard payment provider relationship?
The payment providers were not involved in the creative development of the campaign. Our in-house
creative team developed the campaign internally. We wanted to use real cards and devices from payment
providers, so customers would recognise them. We then presented the concepts to the payment card service
providers and invited them to be included in the campaign.
If so, which payment providers were involved and could you share a bit about their input?
The payment providers featured in the campaign were Visa, Amex, Mastercard, and UnionPay. Each
provider supplied a physical card for use in photo shoots and provided their logo for inclusion in the
creative materials.
Was any sign off or authorisation required by brand mark holders to launch the campaign featuring their
logos or is it just a hand off, "fol ow these brand guidelines" type of process?
Each payment provider approved the key creatives featuring their card or logo. These creatives were then
reformatted and resized for various channels, such as bus sides, and bus, train, and ferry posters.
How were the brand mark placements in the campaign designs decided on? For example; in one
variation, Visa appears as a hand holding a physical card, Mastercard appears on an Apple Watch and
Amex appears on a phone. I assume these variations were up to the designers discretion and are
somewhat random but could you confirm that this is an accurate assumption?
We developed two creative variations featuring payment provider logos or cards displayed across
smartphones, cards, and mobile phones as it was important to tailor the message across the various
placements for the most effective messaging.
We endeavoured to mix this up however the provided logos or cards sometimes dictated their placement by
the creative team. Ultimately, our main aim was to ensure that Aucklanders recognized the payment
providers they regularly use and understood that these could be used on public transport as well as on
different devices.
How many variations of the Ways to Pay designs are there, across the various print layouts?
We had two key variations of the main “ways to pay” creative which were used across multiple channels
including posters on board buses, trains and ferries and in stations, on digital screens, billboards, street
furniture, bus sides, social media and digital advertising. Headlines sometimes changed depending on the
channel used, and we also had educational messages which featured card providers, for example hangers on
buses, decals at stations and coreflute signage at bus stops.
Were there any payment providers that were considered for inclusion that didn't make it into the final
campaign?
The payment providers used on the creative were the ones that were accepted for payment on public
transport. They were UnionPay, Mastercard, Amex and Visa.
Does the Ways to Pay campaign have a set end date or wil it run more or less indefinitely, at least until
the existing AT HOP system is eventual y replaced by Motu Move?
The campaign has finished however you may still see the occasional bus, poster, adhsel poster or billboard
in market over February and March.
Should you believe that we have not dealt with your request appropriately, you are able to make a
complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman in accordance with section 27(3) of the Act and seek an
investigation and review regarding this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Phil Wratt
Engagement Manager,
Customer Care
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