Twenty of these seats will be placed around New York City, and fans are encouraged to hunt down the seats, and scan the QR code on them to check in to Facebook Places. This will make the participants eligible to win VIP tickets to a 2011 Yankee game in MasterCard’s exclusive Batter’s Eye Café.
These efforts by MasterCard among others are aimed to "drive preference and affection for the MasterCard brand among cardholders by offering them an opportunity to enjoy the things they are most passionate about," in this case, sports. While New York may be the starting point for this campaign, the brand plans to expand to other major cities as well, offering "extraordinary experiences, exclusive offers and privileged access" to loyal cardholders.
Personally, I have been eagerly awaiting for more brands to jump on board with Facebook Places. I notice companies using Foursquare quite often, but not many seem to go for Places. This platform should work well for MasterCard's campaign, although I'm not sure if it is a better choice than using Foursquare. It should be noted though that rival American Express launched a program with Foursquare in June that offers benefits when cardholders check in.
