99 - The Renaissance of Marketing in the Age of AI with Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard

Episode notes

In this episode of Time for a Reset: Insights from Global Brand Marketers , brought to you by Overline , host Fiona Davis speaks with Raja Rajamannar , Senior Fellow and former CMO of Mastercard and one of the most influential voices in modern marketing, about the urgent need to reset the marketing function. Raja argues that marketing has not just lost influence, it has lost credibility. He traces this back to a fundamental disconnect between marketing and business outcomes, where marketers failed to understand financial drivers, revenue models, and the language of the C-suite. As a result, CEOs have lost trust, new roles like Chief Growth Officer have emerged, and marketing has been pushed out of strategic decision-making. Drawing on his experience leading Mastercard’s transformation into one of the world’s fastest-growing brands, Raja introduces the idea of “Quantum Marketing”, a reimagining of the entire marketing value chain, from insights to customer engagement. He shares how shifting from traditional advertising to immersive, multisensory experiences helped reposition marketing as a growth engine rather than a cost centre.