e-TechManch: This is the time to serve and not sell: Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard

On Day 2 of the fourth edition of e-TechManch Conference 2020, Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President, Healthcare, Mastercard, delivered an insightful Keynote Session on 'Digital Marketing in the Time of Crisis.' Rajamannar spoke about the multiple crises surrounding the world today and how marketers should carry themselves as we go forward. 

"We are currently facing a multitude of crises. Health crisis, economy crisis, and social crisis. The amount of devastation that has happened to the economy is absolutely staggering,” Rajamannar remarked.

Addressing the severity of the economic crisis, he added, “Millions of businesses have been shut and a large number of big companies have gone bankrupt. It's unprecedented. Now, how does it correlate to the stock market. If you look at the economy and the fundamentals, we are in deep trouble. Currently, we are fighting for government funding. They're printing money, they're making money available. Is there hyperinflation around the corner? Probably there is at least inflation if not hyperinflation, and that's going to be pretty significant. The last time there was the financial crisis, it was just one crisis. It took us about 18 months to two years to come out of it. But this time with the health crisis, plus the economic crisis, it's going to be much more long term,” he asserted. 

Moreover, he spoke about the crisis around communities and the racial discrimination issue that countries like US are grappling with post the George Floyd incident. Against such a backdrop surrounded by a number of crises, what should a marketer do? 

“There are very, very few companies who are truly purpose driven. And purpose is not just about making profits but doing something above and beyond. Without making it just a politically correct statement of what you have to state and what your CEO has to state, so that you look good in your annual report or in some forums. I'm talking of purpose in a true sense of how purposeful this company is, looking beyond its own financial goals and objectives satisfying its own shareholders. It's about satisfying all the stakeholders, and the community is a huge stakeholder. Marketers should not be pure marketers at this stage in the crisis. They require leadership. They require humanity. I always say that before you are a good marketer, you have to be a good human being. Put yourself in the shoes of those people on the other side, who are suffering, who are vulnerable, who are fearful or anxious, try to solve their problems,” he suggested.

Expounding on the purpose piece of things, Rajamannar remarked,“This is not just about philosophical debate as to whether purpose drives profit. We owe it to the society, to the communities that we are in; that they thrive, so that we can thrive in turn. There is a credible way of how you can link purpose, or the cause, to the profits and business momentum of the company that you serve.” 

He opined that companies must start by doing their bit for their employees first. “You should start with your employees. Given the level of layoffs and furloughs that are happening, employees are scared. They're extremely fearful. You need to calm your people down. You need to reassure them. You need to let them know that you're there for them and that they can reach out to you any time if they're feeling scared,” Rajamannar explained. 

He advised against being exploitative as marketers and bearing in mind that timing is everything. “If you're opportunistic at this point in time, you totally lose their trust. There are times when you have to sell. And there are times when you don't want to sell. This is the time to serve. It is not the time to sell. It's very critical. As much as we have got our targets hanging, we have to remember that timing is everything. As much as we have got our targets hanging, this is the time to be with your customers,” he noted.

Rajamannar continued, “Don't be opportunistic, don't do price gouging, just because you are able to exploit vulnerability.  At times of crisis, you look at the amount of black marketing by reputed brands. Talking about these hand washes, hand sanitizers, toilet tissues, they are running out of shelves like there's no tomorrow. There's the pricing officially on the websites of these reputed companies. And in such times, they up it over seven to eight times. That is exploitative and that's complete price gouging.”

Furthermore, he spoke about the importance of serving communities as marketers. “When communities thrive, the secular trend is positive, and when communities thrive, the entire industry is lifting up. If communities are not healthy, you are in trouble. As marketers, we have the skills, resources and capabilities to make the positive difference,” Rajamannar explained.

He also deliberated on how marketing has been fragmented altogether in today’s world. “Marketers have lost in many companies around the world a lot of credibility with the CEOs and the CFOs. When the CEOs are under pressure to deliver quarterly results, they look at the economic crisis which is obviously going to put pressure on the revenues and therefore you need to cut down costs, to the extent that you can tighten your belt. Marketers have not been able to properly justify the return on their investment to credibly make the linkages between their marketing actions, and the business outcomes. A result of this is that many companies have done away with their CMOs,” Rajamannar said.  

Furthermore, he also advised marketers against holding budgets and continuing to communicate with consumers. He also believes that brands need to show up for their customers instead of "going dark" during this crucial period. Rajamannar warned brands against unknowingly blending in by doing what everybody else is doing.  

“The key thing is, there are ample number of opportunities either for collaboration, or for partnership, earned media that you can actually stimulate and get visibility and let the world know that this is the stance you're taking, this is what you're doing for them. But in doing so, don't fall into the trap of that sea of sameness that makes you look like everyone else,” the CMO shared.

Decoding how brands should respond  going forward and differentiate in a world where technology and data will be democratized and everything becoming accessible to everyone, he asserted, “Trust is going to be one of those fundamental elevators that you have to really build. This is the time for marketers to be good human beings, and to serve the community, which is in turn going to be of service to the brand in the medium and the long term,” he concluded.