More than a century removed from its origins as a freight hauler, American Express is a major mover in cyberspace to enhance its profile with customers.
The credit card company is targeting fashion, travel and sports sponsorships as it aims for consumers who are “influencers” or “trend followers” with the common goal of seeking unique experiences, Claire Bennett, American Express senior vice president of global marketing, said at the Association of National Advertisers Brand Innovation Conference in New York yesterday.
In the realm of haute couture, AmEx launched its own fashion network online earlier this year to provide an insider’s perspective on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, from the models on the catwalks to interviews with the designers behind the scenes. Customers get a shot at attending some of those fashion shows due to Amex’s sponsorship.
Paraphrasing Diane Von Furstenberg from her 60-second Amex spot, Bennett said fashion is more than chic sensibility: “It’s about women’s self-confidence and that’s what our brand is about.”
The brand is also about travel, which it has sought to demonstrate with its Members Know: Travel site at www.membersknow.com. It offers travel reviews from expert jet-setters and favorite locales of card members. And it enables card members to have dialogues about far away places.
“It’s really important for people to fell empowered, not powerless, when they travel,” Bennett said.
Amex’s U.S. Open playbook is among its most creative, including a handhelds device, American Express Vision Live, which lets card holders view action on any court during the annual tournament. Card members could receive golf cart rides to forego the long, hot walk from the subway and train stops.
“It’s a really fun experience. Our card members love it,” Bennett said.
It also staged a branded singles night at a Manhattan night club co-sponsored by Match.com, and held viewing parties at Rockefeller Center and Madison Square Park.
Playing off tennis bad boy John McEnroe’s Amex spot, the company produced an online video segment of McEnroe recounting some of his famous rows with umpires and opining on how he might have behaved differently.
In the entertainment vein, Amex also streamed exclusive Webisodes featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld on its site four years ago.
Bennett said at first blush, Amex’s promotional concepts might have been tough sells if seen from a short-term perspective.
“Most of the ideas I had would not be ROI- positive in the short run, but were ROI-positive in the long run,” she said.
While she said AmEx strikes a balance between expenditures in traditional media and the Web, it is definitely shifting some of its resources online.
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