Raja Rajamannar

Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
Mastercard
US

Raja Rajamannar is responsible for building the Mastercard brand – overseeing the brand refresh that saw the company drop its name from the iconic interlocking circle logo — as well as driving business and underlining Mastercard’s purpose-driven strategy. Two recent initiatives that underscore Mastercard’s commitment to using comms and marketing for good: the ‘Touch Card’, which is designed to help visually impaired people make financial transactions on their own, and the ‘Where to Settle’ AI-based app that helps Ukrainian refugees to rebuild their lives in Poland by providing information about job opportunities and accommodation listings.

Rajamannar joined the financial services giant in 2013, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience as a global executive across the consumer products, financial services and healthcare sectors. Since then, he has overseen the successful rebranding of Mastercard in 2016 – the organization’s first major rebrand effort in 20 years – and led the integration of marketing and communications to create one global function. He is also founding president of Mastercard’s Healthcare business, and the author of ‘Quantum Marketing’.

Named Advertising Person of the Year in 2023 by the Ad Club of New York, Rajamannar’s work has helped Mastercard play a leading role in terms of multisensory marketing. Unsurprisingly, he is also at the forefront of using AI to transform marketing and communication, and the brand’s shift towards more sponsorships and expanded experiential marketing.

Before Mastercard, Rajamannar was the chief transformation officer at health insurance firm Anthem. He had also served as chief executive, international and chief innovation and marketing officer at Humana, and earlier spent 15 years with Citigroup, including a stint as global chief marketing officer, cards and payments.