American Express is the world’s largest card issuer, and the Blue
Card was set to be its biggest launch in the UK for ten years. However,
in the 12 months leading up to the launch in May 1998, 21 new credit
cards came on to the market, so a campaign was needed to make the Blue
Card stand out from its competitors.
Amex carried out research into the credit card market and found that
23- to 35 year-olds in particular associated its products with an older,
more business-focused generation. Hill and Knowlton introduced Amex to
cultural psychographics analysts Synergy to identify ways to target this
market.
Objectives
To generate widespread coverage of the Blue Card launch in consumer,
lifestyle and personal finance media. To set the Blue Card apart from
other credit card launches and to support Amex’s efforts to target a
younger market.
Tactics
Synergy estimates that 50 per cent of the UK population will prioritise
lifestyle over career, or be ’inner directed’, by the year 2010. Using
this research to determine a target audience, Hill and Knowlton
distributed a bespoke media pack containing tailored press releases,
product details and research highlights, and a broadcast task force was
set up to encourage radio and TV coverage.
A number of sponsored events were organised over the launch weekend to
attract target audience attention, including an aerobatics display. A
number of planes were branded with the Blue Card ’Do Blue’ logo, and
were taken to every major air show in the country over the summer
period. Tailored messages directed at the personal finance media
highlighted the benefits of the product itself. These included a one per
cent money back offer on all credit card payments, which would be raised
to five per cent during the month of November.
The marketing media was targeted with a heavyweight pounds 5 million
advertising campaign by Ogilvy and Mather, and key marketing journalists
were given advance access to Blue Card advertising before the official
advertising launch. H&K established sponsorship for leading fashion
designer, Alexander McQueen, during London Fashion Week in September.
Blue lighting and seating were used at his catwalk show, and McQueen
designed a limited edition card with a print run of 500, which was
distributed to celebrities. A number were made available to the public
exclusively through Harrods, and one card was displayed at the British
Design Museum.
Results
The campaign exceeded its objectives. The one per cent money back
message generated 24 national press items and the limited edition card
was the subject of features in titles such as Vogue, Elle, Tatler,
i-D and the Face. The issue was covered on Reuters and the PA news
wires.
Synergy used lifestyle issues rather than demographic profiles to obtain
results, and the research findings generated comprehensive features in
the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, and Sunday Business. The
McQueen show, including an interview with the designer against an Amex
blue backdrop, was broadcast on TV stations worldwide. The limited
edition card was hailed as being ’so fashionable it hurts’, and the
Design Museum decided to maintain the Blue Card exhibition for the
foreseeable future. Applications for the card have exceeded
expectations, and the average Blue Card member is five to ten years
younger than regular Amex members.
Verdict
The Blue Card campaign has given Amex a new, younger lease of life. The
money back offer appealed to the target audience more than the reward
schemes offered by competitors, and the association with McQueen played
a major role.
’We broadened the campaign beyond a product story through our
association with McQueen and by delving into the lifestyle issues of the
target audience.
This meant a lot more, and a lot broader, coverage than we ever have
before,’ says American Express director of PR, Douglas Smith.
Client: American Express
PR Team: Hill and Knowlton
Campaign: American Express Blue Card
Timescale: May 1998 - ongoing
Budget: pounds 70,000
