American Express Gets Specific and Asks, ‘Are You a Cardmember?’ - New York Times
04/06/2007 08:54 AM
April 6, 2007
ADVERTISING
American Express Gets Specific and Asks, ‘Are You a
Cardmember?’
By STUART ELLIOTT
AMERICAN EXPRESS has decided there is no more life left in “My life. My card.”
The theme, appearing in ads for American Express charge cards since November 2004, is being
supplanted, beginning Monday, with a campaign that replaces a general, image-oriented approach with a
specific, product-focused tack.
The change is embodied by a rhetorical question, “Are you a cardmember?” — Amex-speak for
“cardholder” — which is answered with demonstrations of what American Express believes are the
benefits of its charge cards.
It is unusual for American Express to switch campaign themes so quickly. For instance, according to a
chronology provided by the company, “Do you know me?” ran from 1974 to 1987; “Membership has its
privileges” appeared from 1987 to 1996, with a brief interruption; and “Do more” ran from 1996 to 2004.
The new inquisitive theme will be the centerpiece of a multimedia campaign with a budget estimated at
$400 million to $500 million. The creator is the longtime American Express agency, Ogilvy & Mather
Worldwide in New York, part of the WPP Group.
The strategy is to convince consumers that there are meaningful advantages to carrying the green, gold,
platinum and other colorful charge cards — even if it means paying fees not assessed for the rival credit
cards like Capital One, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.
The new campaign offers “more of a call to action,” said John Hayes, chief marketing officer at the
American Express Company in New York.
For example, the first television commercial shows the snowboarder Shaun White going online again and
again to book flights at the last minute, using the points he has accrued with his American Express card.
The reason for his frenetic travel is a skein of snowstorms that he follows from Utah to Canada to Japan
to Norway. “Pay with points on any airline,” the spot declares. “Just click and fly.”
Mr. White will also be featured on the American Express Web site (americanexpress.com). “I need to be
able to travel where I want, when I want,” he will proclaim there.
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American Express Gets Specific and Asks, ‘Are You a Cardmember?’ - New York Times
04/06/2007 08:54 AM
The specificity is in sharp contrast to the ethereal tenor of the “My life” campaign. Those ads featured
celebrities like Robert De Niro, Ellen DeGeneres, the director M. Night Shyamalan and the surfer Laird
Hamilton discussing their philosophies of living; Ms. DeGeneres also performed humorous skits with
animals.
The “My life” campaign “really wasn’t working,” said Robert K. Passikoff, president at Brand Keys, a
research company in New York that studies brand and customer loyalty.
In 1997, the American Express brand was first in the category of charge and credit cards in the Brand Keys
customer loyalty index, Mr. Passikoff said, but fell in the 2007 survey to fifth, trailing (in order) Discover,
Capital One, Visa and MasterCard.
American Express “still has brand resonance,” Mr. Passikoff said, “but it has not been engaging consumer
loyalty.”
“Entertainment is not the same as engagement,” he added. “People looked at the Ellen DeGeneres
commercials and said, ‘This is the funniest thing, so clever.’ And then they pulled out their Visa card.”
Needless to say, executives at American Express take issue with that analysis. They provided data showing
that the number of consumer cards in force last year, both in the United States and worldwide, increased
from 2005, as did spending.
“We do believe this brand is defined by the people who use and carry the card,” said Diego Scotti, global
head of marketing at American Express, and the “My life” campaign “worked well in getting people to say,
‘I want to be part of this group,’ ” referring to the celebrities.
“Now, we want to go into more depth about what you get out of membership,” Mr. Scotti said. “What has
changed is the stories they tell will be connected to product, in an authentic way.”
Mr. Hayes said that the “My life” campaign “has done a great job redefining the notion of membership” as
well as reminding consumers that “American Express is a company, not just about transactions, but about
relationships.”
“We want now to include more and more prospects,” Mr. Hayes said, referring to potential cardholders,
“and take ‘My life. My card’ to a broader audience.”
That makes sense because credit card issuers, particularly MasterCard and Visa, are stepping up offers of
rewards and perquisites. For example, a campaign for the Visa Signature credit card, aimed at upperincome consumers, promises it “takes you places regular rewards cards can’t, like a finish-line suite at
Churchill Downs.”
The arms race over rewards is intensifying because “high spenders are very profitable” for issuers of credit
and charge cards, said Scott Henry, engagement manager at Fischer Jordan in New York, a consulting
company.
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American Express Gets Specific and Asks, ‘Are You a Cardmember?’ - New York Times
04/06/2007 08:54 AM
“We’re seeing rewards programs as the primary differentiator between issuers,” Mr. Henry said, which
means that if “Visa is chasing after the more premium market, they have to add more perks like American
Express has” — or vice versa.
For some time, the marketing battle was centered on what Mr. Henry called “the earn rates and burn
rates,” that is, how easy (or hard) it is to earn rewards and how easy (or hard) it is to redeem them.
More recently, “experiential rewards are definitely something that are differentiating the rewards
programs,” he added, referring to less-tangible perks like being taken backstage at a concert to meet the
band or being assured of great seats for a hit Broadway show.
The last time American Express replaced an ad theme so quickly was 15 years ago, in a change omitted
from the chronology provided by the company.
In November 1991, American Express replaced Ogilvy with a New York agency known as Chiat/Day/Mojo
and dropped “Membership has its privileges” in favor of a theme that sounded as if James Bond had
written it: “The card. The American Express card.”
Eleven months later, Chiat/Day/Mojo was dismissed, the account was returned to Ogilvy and
“Membership has its privileges” resumed its run.
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