ORLANDO – Mastercard is pushing its long-running “Priceless” platform into new territory by doubling down on real-world experiences while building a marketing engine powered by AI, said Cheryl Guerin, the company’s executive vice president of brand strategy and innovation, in an interview at the ANA Masters of Marketing conference.
Guerin said the strategy now advances on “two fronts,” one rooted in human connection and one driven by technology. Even as digital interactions multiply, she noted that consumers increasingly want authentic, in-person moments.
That demand has shaped Mastercard’s recent partnerships, including its role as the founding partner of Netflix Houses and Netflix Bites. The collaboration is designed to bring fans inside the worlds of their favorite shows through themed culinary and immersive events.
She pointed to a recent Las Vegas activation, where visitors participated in a “Squid Game”-inspired finale before sitting down for a curated meal.
“People are craving real connections and tangible experiences,” she said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan.
Real-time intelligence, AI-driven trend prediction
Alongside those live activations, Mastercard is leaning heavily on artificial intelligence to fuel what Guerin calls a “real-time marketing engine.” The company uses AI tools to track emerging cultural and behavioral signals, anticipate trends, and instantly alert its marketing teams. Those insights feed campaigns tied to passions that are growing in the moment, she said—allowing the brand to connect with audiences both digitally and physically, in near real time.
Launching Mastercard commerce media
Guerin described Mastercard’s newest initiative, Mastercard Commerce Media, as a major leap toward more measurable and targeted storytelling. Announced just weeks before the conference, the platform is designed to link narrative and passion-driven content to actual shopping behavior and attribution.
“It gives us the ability to connect stories directly to transactional opportunities,” she said. Brands can then close the loop, proving which creative experiences are moving consumers. Mastercard will use the capability for its own marketing but also make it available to partners.
Collapsing space between brand and performance
As measurement-rich channels expand, Guerin said the traditional divide between brand building and performance marketing is increasingly artificial. She said both are essential—and interdependent.
“There is no demand without a brand,” she said.
Mastercard applies this thinking across its B2B marketing as well, designing unified campaigns that build category credibility while generating measurable business results. Emotional connection, trust, relevance and intent must work together, she said, especially when competing to be on a buyer’s shortlist.
Coming shift: Agentic commerce
Looking ahead, Guerin said she is most energized by the rise of “agentic commerce,” where AI assistants can autonomously complete tasks and purchases on a consumer’s behalf. The shift promises major time savings, she said, but will require deep trust in the systems handling payments.
That’s where Mastercard sees enormous opportunity. The company is working on Mastercard Agent Pay, which will link tokenized, secure payment rails with AI assistants through partnerships with companies like IBM and Microsoft. Guerin said the goal is to let people delegate everyday tasks to AI while maintaining the same level of security they expect from physical or online transactions.
“Nobody will have to worry because it’ll be backed by Mastercard,” she said. “And hopefully that means more priceless experiences for all of us.”
