After 12 years as Mastercard’s chief marketing and communications officer, Raja Rajamannar is leaving his post and moving into the role of senior fellow.
Accenture marketing boss Jill Kramer will succeed him from Dec. 1.
Under Rajamannar’s leadership, Mastercard transformed into a marketing-led, data-driven organization. A former chair of the ANA’s Global CMO Growth Council, he also founded Mastercard’s healthcare business and authored Quantum Marketing, now taught at more than 300 universities.
Rajamannar’s legacy is rooted in evolving Mastercard’s “Priceless” brand platform.
Debuted in 1997, long before Rajamannar joined the financial firm, the original TV commercial from McCann showcased precious moments in life, ending on the tagline: “There are some things money can’t buy; for everything else, there’s Mastercard.”
Since taking on Mastercard’s top marketing role in 2012, Rajamannar has turned the “Priceless” promise into a multidimensional brand platform, spanning experiences, innovations, and more.
ADWEEK looks back on his three standout marketing moments.
1. Evolving a ‘Priceless’ proposition
To evolve “Priceless,” Rajamannar shifted its focus from simply delivering memorable moments to curating extraordinary experiences for customers. These have ranged from an exclusive dinner atop a Times Square billboard in New York City to unique restaurant partnerships across the U.S., Brazil, the U.K., Hong Kong, and beyond.
The brand even launched bespoke macaron flavors in partnership with luxury French patisserie Ladurée to let people “taste” the brand.
“Priceless” has also been central to Mastercard’s longtime Grammys sponsorship, including a recent partnership with Lady Gaga that gave fans the chance to be part of a fan version of the video for her 2025 single “Abracadabra.”
Speaking to ADWEEK five years into his role, Rajamannar said “Priceless” had endured the test of time because it tapped into a universal human truth: “experiences matter more than things.”
