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The VP & Head, Marketing and Communications, S Asia, Mastercard, spoke to e4m about the brands support for sports, creating priceless experiences, and catering to peoples passions

by Shantanu David Published - Mar 16, 2023 8:32 AM | 4 min read

As golfers tee off at the storied Delhi Golf Club for the second edition of The DGC Open, Manasi Narasimhan, Vice President and Head, Marketing and Communications, South Asia, Mastercard, the global payment tech company, is justly satisfied with the response. The field has 138 players from around 35 countries and includes close to 50 Indians, many of whom have won on the Asian Tour as well as on home soil.

For us, its about what our consumers passions are around the world, and in this case in India. Over here golf is an emerging sport. There was a perception earlier that golf was very affluent centric but theres been a lot of effort being done to broad-base it, get more women into golf and so on, says Narasimhan, noting that consumers have resonated strongly with the concept.

After last years success, we believe there is a lot more in store for us to build on the growing affinity for the sport in India. Hence, continuing our support for women in sports, we have curated a priceless experience for women golfers to learn the nuances of the sport from their idol Shiv Kapur and are looking forward to a great display of talent on the sprawling greens of the DGC over the next few days.

Narasimhan stresses that what is important to the company, more than just slapping a logo onto an IP is ensuring that consumers get to experience the pricelessness, so emblematic of Mastercards branding, with the iconic for everything else, there is Mastercard, a fixture of TV commercials for those growing up in the pre-internet era.

Digital is ubiquitous, but even within digital there is a move now for more authentic content, right from the new ASCI guidelines for influencers to follow to what people choose to follow. Nobody likes to feel that theyre being sold to, they prefer genuineness and authenticity. And thats our endeavour as a brand, says Narasimhan.

This is important in India, where Narasimhan observes we live and die by our phones. I read a sad statistic that we have more phones than toilets in India and theres enough evidence to show that its true. And so there has been a pivot.

That being said, Narasimhan is confident of the staying power of traditional media. India is a collectivist society. We like to gather together to watch sports and movies with friends and family on TV. Digital is a medium that caters to individuals, and youre going to be peering into your phone or tablet. No ones denying that digital is here to stay, but traditional media is also not going away.

Admitting that golf still carries with it the tag of affluence which may not have mass appeal, Narasimhan says that Mastercard is committed to catering to peoples individual passions. For the affluent and emerging affluent its golf. Cricket of course cuts across every demographic in India, so were in that. Weve recently signed on four badminton players who won the Thomas Cup as the sport is seeing a resurgence thanks to their success.

Its not about bridging the gap but catering to what people want to see and experience. Mastercard worldwide has identified nine passion areas, including art, music, movies, shopping, and one area that has emerged post the pandemic - wellness. We are present in all these areas, she says.

This includes curating experiences that people without a Mastercard cannot enjoy. While sports is popular in India, there are other areas like Mastercards Priceless Cities, which allows you, for example, to do yoga in front of the Sydney Opera House, and other crafted experiences.

Thats the beautiful paradox of payments. Whether youre buying medicines and groceries or are splurging on something youre really passionate about, you want the same method of payment: something effortless, seamless, and safe. Thats what we provide, concludes Narasimhan.

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We ensure consumers get to experience the pricelessness: Manasi Narasimhan, Mastercard - Exchange4Media