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The brand has teamed up with Taxi Media to run what it claims is the first ever campaign on a London taxi promoting an SMS competition.

A fleet of 20 gold and silver branded taxis will circulate the London area for four weeks before the October 1 event, and a telephone number will be included on the flip-down seats. The winner will receive VIP tickets to the event.

A series of media partnerships will also follow the awards. These include a week's sponsorship of MTV's urban music programming; GMTV's black music week entitled 'Rhythm Nation'; the Late Lounge show on Jazz FM, and a drivetime promotion through Kiss FM. The brand will also sponsor the Channel 4 broadcast of the awards to be aired on October 3.

The tie-up continues the credit card brand's long-term music sponsorship strategy that aims to position MasterCard as a convenient and widely accepted method of payment for music purchases.

Rita Broe, head of marketing at MasterCard, has confirmed that she is re-negotiating the headline sponsorship contract for the MOBO awards, which runs out this year, and a number of other music projects.

MasterCard has also sponsored the Brit Awards, The FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League this year.