American Express is embarking on its largest Canadian branding campaign in recent history as part of an international marketing drive that will also appear in the United Kingdom, Mexico and Australia.
Under the positioning “Realize the Potential,” the program from OgilvyOne Worldwide will be largely adapted in Canada. Local online executions have been developed by Neo@Ogilvy, with media duties handled by MindShare. MacLaren Momentum will oversee the promotional elements of the campaign, with Brees PR handling public relations.
A 45-second television spot will kick things off Oct. 12, with radio, print, online and out-of-home work appearing on Oct. 13. Event and experiential executions are in the works as well.
The television ad is animated, using colourful illustrations on a black background–a stylistic shift away from the celebrity-focused mass brand work American Express has become known for. Previous ads have featured celebrities such as Robert Deniro, Ellen Degeneres and Jerry Seinfeld.
Narration for the new ad describes the lengths Amex has gone to ensure good customer service, including personally delivering replacement cards and finding lost wedding dresses.
It ends with the line, “Impossible? Nah. Does this sound like the service you get from your card?” and the new tag line.
While the card’s U.S. advertising remain focused on the charge card itself, David Barnes, vice-president of communication, advertising and sponsorship for American Express Canada, said the international effort is about “the breadth of the products and services that have been our lead products in Canada. We’ve grown in the last several years based on the strength of a number of partnerships… Focusing on just one piece of our portfolio is not the way we wanted to go. We wanted to talk about the overall strength of the brand.”
The brand has partnerships with Aeroplan and Air Miles, among others. Two print executions deal with international travel, a luxury that many brands have shied away from during the recession and the age of “stay-cations.”
However, Barnes said his company’s partnerships with Aeroplan and Air Miles, as well as its own travel program, have seen an uptick in travel points redemption this year.
