Asia-Pacific Power List 2023: Julie Nestor, Mastercard

Julie Nestor

Executive vice president, head of marketing and communications, Asia Pacific
Mastercard
Singapore
New member

As a brand Mastercard needs little assistance. It has always been about forging solid partnerships to do great things. However, with the lessons learnt during the pandemic, coming together with new, relevant and exciting regional partners took on a new sense of importance.

In the one year that Julie Nestor has been the brand custodian of Mastercard, she has spearheaded various innovative ways to connect partners, cardholders and consumers to their passion pillars: food, music, sports, travel, self-care/wellness, entertainment, while staying faithful to “Priceless” brand heritage.

The year started on a high note for Nestor as the team brokered a ‘priceless’ partnership with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as a title sponsor for their 2022-2023 domestic cricket series. The sponsorship had an incredible impact on the brand in the market: the brand score lifted by 42%, and visits to Priceless.com increased tenfold over the year prior, delivering over 5,000 new sign-ups.

Mastercard created a new and exclusive partnership in Hong Kong with the iconic restaurant group Lubuds to offer unique opportunities and privileges across their 40 dining venues as the country emerged from lockdowns. In Vietnam, it sponsored the “Flavours Vietnam” gastronomy festival. As part of its sponsorship of the Australian Open, it tied up with the department store giant, Myer, to create a “match in the mall” on Bourke Street in Melbourne, literally stopping tram traffic for the day as tennis legends duked it out in a friendly mini-tournament for cardholders.

Mastercard Gamer Xchange is a platform that can be integrated into a partner’s loyalty program, wherein loyalty points can be exchanged for in-game currencies. For example, recently, AirAsia partnered with Mastercard to integrate the platform into their superapp, allowing users to turn flight miles into gaming currency, connecting two passions influenced by the pandemic.

Nestor is the leader of the ‘In Solidarity’  business resource group at Mastercard, which supports and champions the inclusion of people with disabilities. This is particularly close to her heart as a mother of a child with additional needs. She is particularly proud of the work done in the field of sport for young female cricketers in India through clinics led by MS Dhoni and sponsoring the women’s rugby team in New Zealand.

In addition, during the Australian Open, Nestor led an awareness campaign for low-vision tennis designed especially for people with vision impairments, coinciding with the launch of Touch Cards in the market.