MasterCard CMO Rajamannar urges strong CMO-CFO connection for business growth

By Zion Rufus

The Creative Impact sessions at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, co-curated by WARC × LIONS, provided attendees with exclusive new research findings, shed light on upcoming challenges faced by the industry, and offered effective solutions to address them.

Among the notable discussions was a session featuring Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing Officer of MasterCard, who emphasized the significance of a strong connection between CMOs and CFOs, and how it can propel brands, drive business growth, and create a competitive advantage.

During the WARC x LIONS session, Rajamannar stressed the importance of connecting marketing actions to tangible business outcomes, moving beyond traditional marketing metrics.

He noted, “We need to connect the dots between marketing actions and the business outcomes, not just in terms of the marketing metrics. We don’t connect. And many times we don’t connect because we don’t even care to measure.”

To highlight the prevalent issue of inadequate measurement practices, Rajamannar shared the results of a poll he conducted at the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) among a group of 50 CMOs.

Surprisingly, according to his findings, less than 10% of the respondents reported diligently and judiciously measuring their marketing spend.

“They say, yeah, we do it maybe for one or two main campaigns, but that’s pretty much it,” Rajamannar revealed.

This revelation underscores a critical challenge faced by marketers worldwide—insufficient measurement of marketing efforts. Rajamannar’s findings serve as a wake up call for industry professionals to adopt comprehensive measurement practices and consistently connect their marketing initiatives to meaningful business outcomes.

During this session, the MasterCard CMO urged marketers to recognize the far-reaching impact of a strong CMO-CFO connection.

This alignment, according to Rajamannar, enables marketers to build stronger brands, drive business performance, and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. By fostering a collaborative relationship between marketing and finance, organizations can ensure their marketing efforts align with business objectives, generate a return on investment, and deliver sustainable growth.

Furthermore, Rajamannar emphasized the need for marketers to go beyond measuring the success of individual campaigns and focus on comprehensive and continuous measurement practices.

Unarguably, a regular evaluation of the impact of marketing spend across different channels and touchpoints, organizations can optimize their marketing strategies, make data-driven decisions, and ultimately achieve greater business success.

As brands continue to navigate a rapidly evolving landscape, it is essential for marketers to prioritize measurement and establish a strong partnership between marketing and finance. In doing so, marketers can unlock the full potential of their campaigns, maximize their impact on the bottom line, and pave the way for sustained growth and success.