Mastercard partners with Curiouscast for cybercrime podcasts

This is the first time the credit card company has done this kind of brand integration in Canada.

Just in time for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Mastercard is teaming up with podcast company Curiouscast to release a series of new episodes of its true crime pods Nighttime and Dark Poutine. The sponsored episodes are meant to spread awareness of the real-world cyber risks to individuals and small business owners. 

“Cyber Crime in Canada – with Amisha Parikh and Det. David Coffey”(Nighttime) and “A History of Cyber Crime & How to Protect Yourself Online” (Dark Poutine) will do a deep dive into real-life stories of small business owners’ experiences of cyberattacks.

This is in response to research by Mastercard that shows over half of Canadian small business owners feel unprepared for a cyberattack and 63% of small business owners don’t consider themselves a likely target of cybercrime.

“Knowing this, we partnered with Curiouscast to bring cybercrime stories to life in the thrilling true crime podcast format to showcase the impact of Mastercard’s innovation in keeping the digital ecosystem safe and secure,” says Emilija Businskas, Mastercard’s vice president of communications, Canada. 

Both sponsored episodes will show up in their respective podcasts feeds. According to Mastercard, the special episodes of Nighttime and Dark Poutine will have midroll ads presented by Mastercard to help generate further awareness of cybercrime in Canada and the risks to small businesses, while offering solutions and resources, including a complementary Cyber Assessment Tool, on the Mastercard Trust Centre for small business. The ads will also run on Unchartered, another true crime podcast by Curiouscast.

This is the first time that these podcasts have integrated sponsorship like this, and it’s a first time Mastercard has done this kind of sponsorship and brand integration in Canada, says Businskas.

The campaign will be complemented by an owned media and influencer strategy to drive to the podcasts, as well as the Mastercard Trust Centre, to increase awareness and education for small businesses and consumers.

Mastercard worked with an interagency team of IPG agencies (McCann, Weber Shandwick) and Carat to bring this campaign to life.