American Express - Don't Leave Home Without It

This Case Study Presentation was created during a marketing internship under Prof. Sameer Mathur of IIM Lucknow.

Transcript

2. Brief Description • 19th century express shipping company. • In 1891, created the first internationally accepted ‘Traveler's Cheque’. • Grew into a travel services company. • Evolved into a global payments company.
3. • Issued first charge card in 1958. • In 1967, one third of the total profit came from its charge card business. • During 60’s and 70’s Amex stepped up its marketing efforts.
5. Brand Positioning • Brand images :- prestige, trust, security, customer services, international acceptability and integrity. • They collect a higher annual fee. • A status symbol. • Cardholders are called ‘Card Members’. • Maintains an elusive image.
6. In direct competition with Visa and MasterCard. Comparison With Competitors Points of Parity :- • All have charge cards • Used for travel and entertainment • Annual fees • Must payoff entire balance monthly Points of Difference :- • Issues its own cards • Finances payments and processes the transfers • Make most of their money from internet and fees
8. Establishing Brand Positioning • Has spearheaded some brilliant ad campaigns. • Their now famous catchphrase ‘Don’t Leave Home Without It’ created by Ogilvy & Mather was run in 1970’s as a “synergy” tagline. • Collaborated with celebrities to promote their cards in the “Are you a card member” ad campaign. • To communicate the transformation, the company launched a corporate ad campaign called ‘Do More’.
9. • Positioning and branding a small business is tough. • Amex responded to pressure. • Rebranded its Small Business Services Division. • Called it OPEN: The Small Business Network. • Provided consumers with great benefits.
11. Brand Differentiation Means of brand differentiation :- • Image Differentiation • Service Differentiation • Channel Differentiation
12. Image Differentiation • Amex appeals equally to various classes of consumers. • Centurion Black card for the Prestige users who require a concierge service. • Blue card for tech-savvy young users.
13. Service Differentiation Amex provides :- • Luggage insurance with no fee cards • Car rental protection against theft and damages • Brilliant reward system • Roadside service • Option of purchasing additional travel and medical insurance • Fraud protection • Account alerts • Concierge services
14. Channel Differentiation They have ties with :- • Airlines • Hotels • Universities • Theme Parks
15. Q) Evaluate Amex in terms of its competitors :- • In 3rd position • Well positioned because of strong global presence. • Most competition is faced from transaction volumes of its competitors. • Clients are primarily banks and financial institutions.
16. Q) Evaluate Amex’s integration of its various businesses :- • The company’s business units should go back to paying balance off from month-to-month payment. • Should target the wealthy and low-risk consumers. • Should maintain a good service and provide benefits. • Should offer more benefit to those who paid off their balance. • If American Express was to go back to paying off the balance, they will be able to rely on their clients to pay their balances before using their cards.
17. Q) Discuss Amex’s decision to grow beyond its core affluent consumer base :- • Will gain more consumers, but might face issues that might spoil the brand name. • Opening up to only wealthy customers; might be viewed as being biased. • Concentrating on the affluent customer base will result in having very few consumers.
19. Summary
21. Disclaimer By :- Shomik Biswas, Jadavpur University, During an Internship under, Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow