Advertisement

Focusing on people is key: Mastercard CCO

Matercard Chief Marketing & Communications Officer Raja Rajamannar joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down why focusing on people is the best strategies for marketing.

Video transcript

- Let's bring into the stream Raja Rajamannar. He is the chief marketing communications officer and president of the health care business at Mastercard. Thank you for joining us today, Raja.

RAJA RAJAMANNAR: Thank you for having me.

- And one of the things that you want to talk about that we want to talk about with you is, it's not only-- you know, brand identity is good, but we always have this discussion, B to B, business to business, or B to C, business to consumer. But you're making the point and the emphasis on, focus on people. What does that mean?

RAJA RAJAMANNAR: So first and foremost, whether you're in a B to C context or in a B to B context, at least in our lifetimes we'll only be dealing with people. Missions will not be running the companies by itself. And people, irrespective of the context that they are in, they are emotional, thinking, feeling beings.

So when you're talking of marketing, it's not just about rational logical decision making. There is a lot of emotional aspect to decision making. It's driven by feelings and emotions.

So in marketing, what you're trying to do is you aren't just talking about how great your product is, but you are actually trying to connect with something deeper from the person's point of view, irrespective of whether the person is in a B to B context or in a B to C context. The myth, typically, is if you are in a B to B context everything is logical and rational. But that is a myth.

- Raja, another thing that businesses certainly have to keep in mind is they need to anticipate to stay relevant. So what are your recommendations just on the best ways to do that?

RAJA RAJAMANNAR: So in terms of relevance particularly, first and foremost, it's all driven by, on the one hand, the consumers are the end customers and they have needs, on the one hand. And on the second, the context in which they are in, they are operating in-- if they are individuals, what kind of lifestyle they're living with, and if they are businesses, what kind of environment that they are in.

The whole idea is for marketers to understand those very deeply-- the needs on the one hand, the context on the other hand-- and understand the psychological and the emotional dynamics behind. And when you connect the dots of these, that's when you come through as a holistic marketer and somebody who is actually very appealing to that consumer.

Because today, if you look at any of the products and services there is practically parody. And the differentiation is broad, not by product functionalities or design, but it is actually going to be through emotions and feelings. So that's how you need to try and sustain the relevance to their existing context.

So one small thing, for example, if there is something happening culturally that's very volatile or that's something which is positive or negative, whichever way it is, it's very critical for brands to A, be in tune with it so they don't come tone deaf to their customers and consumers, on the one hand. And at the same time, they're not just joining the bandwagon to talk about something which is the current hot topic, but they are actually representing themselves very authentically, the voice of the brand comes through clearly, consistently, and in a competent fashion.

- There was, at Saatchi & Saatchi decades ago, Kevin Roberts. He wrote the book, "Lovemarks," which talked about, the best relationship in marketing is the consumer who loves the product. And we actually build those emotional connections. How do-- at a Mastercard, how do you do that? How do you get me to love a piece of plastic?

RAJA RAJAMANNAR: See, we have been doing it very successfully. That's the whole idea. It's not about your love for plastic that we are focusing on. But it is the things that you care about, that you love, that you are passionate about. And we enable you to experience your passions in a truly unique fashion. We call it priceless.

It's about curating and creating experiences that money cannot buy. But you can get it only with your Mastercard, or through your Mastercard. And that's the whole basis of our Priceless campaign, which is now successfully running in its 24th year. And the interesting thing is, this is not just about soft emotions and fluffy sentiments. It is actually about tangible movement of the business, the brand valuation, and how it drives and fuels the business.

So today, we are a top 10 brand, globally, as measured by BrandZ. Or we are one of the fastest growing brands across all categories as measured by Interbrand. So whichever study you take, the strategy of bringing to life, the connection between consumers and their passions really works. And that's what we are striving to do day in and day out.

- Roger, what would you say is the biggest disruptor right now in the marketing industry, if you had to pick out just one thing?

RAJA RAJAMANNAR: Artificial intelligence by far. It's across the entire lifecycle of marketing, all the way from consumer insights to product development, to testing the concepts, to doing the data analytics, of course, and to create items, including RFP responses or creating new advertisements. It's all happening today in AI. And it does at a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of time, in a matter of minutes.

So the speed with which things become-- it's almost real-time that you can operate in. And the cost efficiencies that you get, and the democratization that happens in the field wherein you don't have to be a gigantic company to be able to use AI-- but even a small company can effectively use AI because they can pay for it as they go without any capital investment. The combination of all this is what AI is.

And that is going to be humongously disruptive and hugely enabling. On the one hand, if you know how to use it you'll be the champion. And you'll be successful. And you'll thrive. In the absence of that, you'll become obsolete and irrelevant extremely quickly.

- We appreciate your being here. Raja Rajamannar is the chief marketing communications officer and the president of the health care business at Mastercard. Thank you so much for joining us.