Messaging Matters - AMEX

Watch the following video advertisements and answer the following questions:

1. What is the brand position statement?
2. What is the brand personality?
3. What is the common theme that holds all these campaigns together?

American Express’s “Small Business Saturday” was almost “Local Tuesday.” Not really, but that was the idea Crispin Porter & Bogusky was tossing around in 2010 when American Express OPEN asked for ideas that would help their small-business merchants boost sales. Crispin brought their local idea to American Express and it turned out the payment processor had a similar idea in mind for the Saturday after Black Friday.

And so “Small Business Saturday” was born. But the idea to create a day to celebrate small business was still just an idea. It wasn’t a matter of getting people to buy in to the concept—93% of consumers agree it’s important to support small business. The question was, how could they get consumers and small businesses to actively participate in marketing and promoting the idea to make it a national success? The answer? With a million tiny details.

The effort with the simple call to action—shop small—has included social-media toolkits, packets of logos, posters, buttons and digital assets distributed nationally, partners like Twitter and Federal Express adding free services, and the creation of “Neighborhood Champions” in small towns that want to help their own Main Street stores. AmEx even purchased Facebook inventory and gave it to small businesses.

“It was a great collaboration between us, American Express and Digitas, for a collaborative community-centric idea. Our work was a reflection of the goal,” said Andrew Keller, who was transitioning from chief creative officer to his current role as CP&B CEO when the campaign began.

Judge Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus at DDB Worldwide, called the campaign “A big idea to help small business. ‘Small Business Saturday’ is a win-win-win for Amex, for small business owners and for those consumers who rediscover the rewards of escaping the mass mentality of a big-box store for the more personal attention of a mom-and-pop.”

“This is the epitome of creating a business-building idea vs. just communications. It captured the growing ‘local’ movement. It made a big difference for the brand and for local businesses,” wrote Joyce King Thomas, chief creative officer, McCann XBC.

Timing was also on their side. The still-struggling economy after the depths of the recession had even the White House drumming the need for small businesses to re-emerge. With gas prices still high, the concept and benefit of shopping local was gaining traction. Meanwhile, the number of small businesses had spiked as out-of-work people hung out their own shingles. Tying it all together was American Express OPEN’s solid credibility as a friend to small business, whether they accepted its card or not.

“We knew it couldn’t be about American Express. Our CEO went on the ‘Today’ show and said, ‘I don’t care how you shop, where you shop or how you pay…this is the day to go out and support small businesses.’ And we mean it,” said Scott Krugman, American Express director-corporate communications. “‘Small Business Saturday’ creates more customers for everyone. We want to make the pie bigger for everyone.”

While the first year was about claiming the day, the ensuing years have been about helping small business, sometimes one at a time, with promotions and marketing; creating national advertising efforts to galvanize consumers and linking up with “outside” community and corporate partners to expand even further. YouTube, Foursquare and Twitter have provided free social-media support, FedEx donated personalized signs, and business organizations from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the National Federation of Independent Businesses hold events and promote the day on their own.

“Financial Services was probably one of the most unimaginative sectors in the world, however, American Express was able to make it sexy. ‘Small Business Saturday’ has become a national phenomenon. This is inspiring! It has certainly separated American Express from the rest of the financial-services crowd and scored positive points with U.S. consumers,” wrote Cindy Chen, global head of innovation, gum category, Mondelez International, one of Ad Age’s judges.

In the end, American Express “Small Business Saturday” isn’t just a one-day sales success like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, although it did generate $5.7 billion in sales in 2013. It’s not even just a great cause-marketing campaign, although it won two Cannes Grand Prix awards among other industry accolades. It’s a cultural movement that has changed the way consumers view and support small businesses. As Mr. Krugman said, when President Obama took his daughters to a local bookstore and tweeted his own pledge to shop small, “That doesn’t happen based on advertising; that happens with advocacy.”

Judge Brad Jakeman, president, global beverage group, Pepisco, wrote, “The American Express ‘Small Business Saturday’ is a marketing idea that added value to the community the brand is all about serving. This idea was authentic and true to the brand, the audience and the category. More than just an advertising idea, this is a true organizing idea for the brand.

Over the course of five years, the Small Business Saturday campaign has been supported by numerous agencies including Digitas, Crispin Porter & Bogusky, M Booth & Associates, MindShare, Ogilvy & Mather and Wieden + Kennedy.