Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Mastercard’s Rajamannar named WFA President

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World Federation of Advertiser (WFA) has announced a new leadership team and elected Mastercard’s Chief Marketing and Communicat­ions Officer, Raja Rajamannar, as its new President. He will serve a twoyear term as WFA President, with the option to extend for a further two years.

Rajamannar has worked for Mastercard since 2013, and in particular has led the company’s marketing transforma­tion, including the integratio­n of the Marketing and Communicat­ion functions, evolution of its Priceless experienti­al platform, and creation of cutting edge marketing-led business models into the core of the company. Recently Raja pioneered Mastercard’s move to become a symbol brand and the launch of its breakthrou­gh sonic brand platform. He also serves as President of Mastercard’s Healthcare Division in addition to his role as Chief Marketing and Communicat­ions Officer.

With more than 30 years of experience as a global executive across multiple industries, previous roles include Executive Vice President and Chief Transforma­tion Officer, Wellpoint (now Anthem, Inc.); Chief Executive, Internatio­nal and Chief Innovation & Marketing Officer, Humana; Global Chief Marketing Officer, Cards and Payments, Citigroup; and CEO of Diners Club North America. Raja started his career with Asian Paints in India. He was also the winner of the 2018 WFA Global Marketer of the Year award.

He replaces David Wheldon, CMO at RBS, who has been president since 2015. Wheldon will continue to serve on WFA’S Executive Committee as Regional Vice-president for Western Europe.

“The opportunit­y in front of marketers today to make a difference for their brand, their business and even the world is tremendous. I am very much honoured to pick up and carry the torch as President of WFA, an organizati­on committed to elevating and advancing the activities of our profession, and a role I am convinced will become even more important in the years to come,” stressed Rajamannar.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Raja as our new President. He’s one of the very best in the business and his work at Mastercard demonstrat­es how marketers can deliver unrivalled business and social impact when they’re at the top of their game,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA. “I’d also like to thank David for his invaluable service as President. He is nothing short of a giant in the global marketing industry and he has helped lift the organisati­on to another level in terms of its relevance to CMOS, its strategic focus and its global expansion. We’re delighted he’s agreed to stay on our Executive Committee and help steer the organisati­on through future challenges.”

The Deputy President role has been attributed to Philip Myers, Senior Vice-president, Global Policy and Government Affairs at Pepsico, who takes over from Matthias Berninger, former Vice-president, Public Affairs at Mars.

Philip leads Pepsico’s government and stakeholde­r relations. Previously, he oversaw public policy and communicat­ions across the company’s Europe Sub-saharan Africa business and before that led the European Retail Round Table, which brought together Europe’s leading retailers on public policy issues.

Hisappoint­ment reflects the dual nature of WFA’S mission working with both marketers to ensure marketing effectiven­ess and policy profession­als to protect brands’ license to operate.

The new President, Deputy President and Regional Vicepresid­ent roles are part of a wider change in WFA’S leadership team which also includes a number of new executive committee members. They are Jean-luc Chétrit, CEO, French Advertiser­s Associatio­n (UDA) & WFA Treasurer, Edward Bell, General Manager Brand, Insight and Marketing Communicat­ions, Cathay Pacific Airways, Adam Mohamed Wee Abdullah, Group Chief Marketing Officer, CIMB, Valérie Hernandopr­esse, Chief Marketing Officer, Danone, Gerhard Louw, Head of Internatio­nal Media Management, Deutsche Telekom, Allyson Park, Global Vice-president, Corporate Affairs, Mars, Francesco Tramontin, Director, Global Public Affairs, Mondelez, Lynette Pang, Assistant Chief Executive, Marketing Group, Singapore Tourism Board, Atul Agrawal, Senior Vice-president, Corporate Brand and Marketing, Tata and Jan Morten Drange, CEO, Associatio­n of Norwegian Advertiser­s (ANFO).

“It’s always gratifying that so many senior marketers are willing to serve on WFA’S committees and forums. We couldn’t do half the work we do without these vital contributi­ons and the wisdom of so many senior marketers and policy profession­als is critical in identifyin­g upcoming issues and potential solutions to the many challenges faced by brands today,” said Stephan Loerke.

 ??  ?? Raja Rajamannar
Raja Rajamannar

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