American Express Lets Cardmembers Nominate Social Betterment Ideas
#7 Best Cause-Based Promotion
AMERICAN EXPRESS MEMBERS PROJECT
AGENCY: Digitas
CLIENT: American Express
Until about 10 years ago, membership had its privileges at American Express.
It still does, of course, in real life. But the company phased out the “privileges” tagline in its ads a decade ago, and in recent years that has proven to be foresighted. Amex’s financial competitors have begun adding premium cards packed with enhanced benefits and features to their product lines. Products such as Visa Signature and MasterCard World Elite are aimed directly at the affluent, top-shelf customers Amex used to reach with its “privilege” pitch.
To avoid looking like just another card in the credit pack, American Express and agency of record Digitas went looking for a distinctive promotional idea, one that would not only set Amex apart but also speak to customers about community and inclusiveness rather than separation and elitism. Research suggested that active philanthropy — otherwise known as “doing good” — was a core value both for current Amex members and for the new affluent demographic the company was targeting.
The answer, rolled out in May 2007, was the American Express Members Project, an online social collaboration that offered to let cardholders nominate and vote for their favorite social betterment ideas. The idea winning the most nods after several rounds of online voting would receive a donation of $1 from Amex for every campaign participant, with a $1 million floor and up to a $5 million ceiling.
Members could register, submit their ideas and discuss the merits of others’ proposals at the campaign Web site, www.MembersProject.com, between May 15 and June 17. The top-50 ideas were winnowed down by a panel of judges including celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Wynton Marsalis. Members logged back in after July 3 to select their favorites from those quarter-finalists. That popular vote cut the group down to 25 ideas, with a winning idea announced on Aug. 7.
The campaign was marketed through a range of old and new media, from TV spots to online social communities, viral marketing and search.
Over 7,000 other projects were put forward by Amex members. In the end, registered visitors to the Web site named five global efforts as the most worthy: global reforestation, U.S. national parks restoration, a school improvement plan, alternative residential energy and, the eventual winner, safe drinking water for children in the developing world.
American Express went beyond the initial guarantee of $1 for every registration to the project winner, and also doubled the guaranteed $1 million minimum contribution. While the Web site garnered a healthy 186,500 registrations, “Children’s Safe Drinking Water” and UNICEF, the organization chosen to activate the project, were given a $2 million contribution from Amex.
The other four finalists each earned recognition awards of $100,000 for the non-profit groups associated with them.
As for campaign results, Amex and Digitas estimate that the 2007 Members Project message reached more than 1.5 million people. Mentions in more than 630 blogs, as well as 2,000 radio placements, 12 national and 46 local print stories, and 13 national and 30 local TV items made it the most recognizable Amex campaign in recent history, with greater than 50% recognition among both current and prospective cardmembers.
Equally strong were the effects on brand favorability. Amex’s “net promoter score” — the chance a user would recommend the company to a friend — saw an 85% lift.
IDEA TO STEAL: APPEAL TO USERS’ PASSIONS
Even when promoting something closely tied to individual status — such as a credit card, banking service or anything else related to wallet issues — don’t overlook the differentiation value to be gained by appealing to users’ passions, altruism and sense of community contribution.
