2020 Azbee Awards of Excellence

Category

All Content > Q&A > Northeast

Awarded to

Alison Weissbrot, Reporter; Ryan Joe, Managing Editor

Entry details

Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar: Marketing Is Facing An 'Existential Crisis'

Issue or publication date: March 19, 2019
Publication name: AdExchanger
Publishing company: Access Intelligence
Website home page: https://adexchanger.com/

Please describe the publication's mission and readership:

AdExchanger’s mission is to demystify the esoteric digital marketing and media space. We empower marketers, publishers and others with information that counteracts the rising complexity that has resulted from an influx of data and technology.

There are a few ways we do this:

We help readers understand the technology. The overcrowded ad tech and marketing technology landscape poses a daunting challenge to marketer and publisher executives who need to rationalize their vendor selection process. Some estimate there were more than 6,000 marketing and advertising technology companies operating in 2018.

We help readers understand the marketplace. Among this crowded advertising and marketing landscape, Google, Facebook and Amazon dominate advertising spending and account for most growth, leaving smaller players to find ways to survive – or get acquired.

We help readers understand the data. Platforms and devices have multiplied, leaving huge trails of data for marketers to interpret as they strive to send the right ad to the right person at the right time.

Our news and features illustrate these dynamics, along with thought leadership from industry experts, two podcasts and a cheeky weekly comic strip featuring AdExchanger Man.

We engage readers via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. We keep them abreast of regular news coverage in a daily newsletter and send breaking news alerts as stories develop. We also bring readers and leaders together at three US conferences per year.

Please describe the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

Raja Rajamannar is not only chief marketing officer of one of the world’s most iconic financial services brands, he’s also an outspoken leader in the marketing industry. In this interview, Rajamannar and reporter Alison Weissbrot discuss some of the fundamental challenges facing marketers today – most notably a talent shortage – and the existential crisis that’s occurring as marketing evolves from a creative to technology-driven discipline.

This story is impactful because of its candor. Through her line of questioning, she coaxed Rajamannar into speak openly about the challenges of adapting organizations to a new world where business, marketing and technology intersect. He discussed the difficulty of hiring technologists and data scientists when they can easily get jobs in Silicon Valley or start their own companies. Mastercard approaches the issue by recruiting talent out of school through internship programs and other initiatives.

Rajamannar and Alison also discuss how Mastercard is evolving its own brand in a data-driven world, including its decision to remove its name from its logo and its work in the voice technology space. This interview gave our audience direct insight from a difficult-to-access leader as they face similar challenges in evolving their own organizations.

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Entry URL(s), if applicable:
https://adexchanger.com/advertiser/mastercard-cmo-raja-rajamannar-marketing-is-facing-an-existential-crisis/

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