McCann Erickson-Mastercard "Priceless" campaign

Mastercard's "priceless" campaign has to be the most well known slogan for any credit card company. No matter who we are, no matter if we are target customers for Mastercard or not, the phrase priceless has become embedded in American culture. Just the other day, one of my friend's facebook status ended in "... priceless". Surely McCann Erickson and Mastercard knew when they were launching the campaign that not everyone would switch to Mastercard purely because of these ads, yet, as a brand, Mastercard has positioned itself above competitors Visa, American Express, Discover Card and any other credit service companies I am missing, simply because of customer AWARENESS. Based on competitive advertising I have seen, it seems as though Mastercard has created not only an image for itself, but for the entire product category ( which is relatively dull and definitely not 'sexy'). Finally, Mastercard has lead the way in its product category not because it has made any bold or false claims. In fact, it admits there are somethings money CANNOT buy, but for everything else: there's Mastercard! :)