• by Judy Warner , September 22, 2006

The launch in June of a new publicly traded corporate brand plus the onset of a single payer system for credit cards throughout the European community spurred MasterCard Europe to create two new marketing posts.

Pedro Rangel was named group head of marketing and Paul Vandermoere head of communications for MasterCard Europe, the Purchase, N.Y.-based credit card company said yesterday.

Rangel's responsibilities include brand building, promotional programs, customer marketing, sponsorships, and events. He reports to MasterCard Europe president Javier Perez in Brussels and MasterCard Worldwide marketing chief Lawrence Flanagan in Purchase.

"We have made the major transition to a publicly traded company and launched a new corporate brand. Pedro and Paul both now have a critical role to play in promoting the 'new' face of MasterCard to our external and internal audience," said Perez in a statement. The new face of MasterCard International, introduced in June, positions the credit card company as "The Heart of Commerce" to businesses, consumers and stockholders, and runs concurrently with its popular "Priceless" campaign.

Both Rangel and Vandermoere had previously worked for Lufthansa. Rangel was hired by MasterCard in 2005 to oversee marketing in Latin America and the Caribbean from Miami. Vandermoere, who was in international communications at Lufthansa, also in Brussels, will report to Perez and Harvey Greisman, communications director in Purchase.

New leadership does not portend a change in marketing agencies, although MasterCard Europe spokesperson Louise Herbert said: "We are not prepared to say anything about marketing assignments." McCann-Erickson, part of McCann Worldgroup, is the agency for MasterCard Europe.

In addition to promoting the new public face of MasterCard, a single payment system (SEPA) is being introduced by the European Commission that will make cross-border payments in the European Union possible. Implementation--which is scheduled to begin in 2008--is expected to increase sales volume for all credit cards, and represents an enormous growth opportunity. As in the U.S., MasterCard trails Visa as the No. 2 credit card issuer in Europe.

According to The Nilson Report in Carpinteria, Calif., MasterCard's European purchase volume in 2005 was up more than 13 percent to $322.74 billion. It was No. 2 to Visa, which saw its purchase volume grow slightly--more than 14 percent to $868.58 billion.