American Express OPEN Forum: 2010 IMA winner
CATEOGORY: Internet-based Loyalty Marketing
SECOND-PLACE CAMPAIGN: American Express OPEN Forum
AGENCY: Crispin Porter & Bogusky
CLIENT: American Express
American Express Open looks after the needs of small business owners. And after it determined that one-third of all small businesses reported that the uncertain economy was their biggest challenge, American Express Open re-launched its Website as a robust online resource.
“In this environment it was no longer about the sell message, small business owners trying to survive were looking for information to help run their businesses better,” Jason Rudman, the director of Open Forum, said.
The site aimed to help business owner’s increasing need for opportunities to learn, connect and expand during this difficult economic environment. The site, which launched in 2007, initially posted video and other content from events the firm held around the country. In 2008, it reskinned as a blog to begin conversations among small business owners. Under this latest re-launch the idea was to build loyalty through two new content platforms that would keep people returning again and again.
One platform, The Idea Hub, provides robust content in seven topic areas written by 150 business experts who provide valuable original content that cannot be found elsewhere on the Web.
The second, Connectodx, a virtual rolodex for American Express card holders, lets these members create a digital profile that allows them to connect with one another. Open Forum frequently selects people from Connectodx and profiles them on the site.
“Trust is paramount between a brand and its constituents, particularly in these times,” Rudman said. “For us, it was crucial to build a trust platform that was relevant, useful and easy to digest.”
Open Forum has also broadened its base of business people through a partnership with Linked In, now offering those users access to the site.
It also wanted to use public relations and online visibility on a national scale to reach a potentially wider audience with at least 10 million impressions.
“Editorial coverage is lending credibility to the brand,” he said. “We have not gone out largely using advertising dollars we have focused on earning media and one way we have done that is leveraging our authors, which have a tremendous following.”
The goal of the redesigned site was to double monthly traffic levels to 120,000 unique visitors and page views to 225,000 by the end of 2009. Amex also wanted 5,000 new “followers” or loyal customers to the @openforum Twitter page, which launched with the new site.
As a result of the work, 15.5 million media impressions were recorded, including mentions in BusinessWeek’s annual Best Global Brands cover story and BtoB. Open’s expert’s sites and blogs introduced another 21.8 million to Open Forum. Traffic to the site increased by 1.9 million unique visitors, or 447% versus the same period last year. Page views improved by 307%, or 3.95 million. The Open Forum Twitter feed now posts to more than 3,400 followers. —Patricia Odell
