Bill Hanifin
view more articles
Loyalty is Social and American Express knows it.
The credit card issuer launched its “Social Currency” campaign back in March and I have to admit that upon first review, I thought it was more show than go. Since that time, the multiple campaigns launched in market with partners including Foursquare, SCVNGR, and Facebook validate their commitment to incorporate digital tools and redefine cardholder perception of card based rewards programs.
The original ads that proclaimed Membership Rewards Points to be a Social Currency inspired my imagination of what they might offer. Would they enable points to be used with a check-in, at point-of-sale to complete a transaction, or to facilitate P2P payments between card-holding friends? The first offers weren’t quite this imaginative, being limited to cardholders being able to shout out their favorite use of points on the company’s Facebook page and offering its version of “deal of the day” with special offers on redemption items.
Nothing wrong with either of these, but I was hoping that the concept of “Social Currency” would evolve and fulfill the idea in earnest, rather than becoming another “Blue Card”, i.e. a smart (chip) card with more sizzle than substance.
My suspicion and skepticism has been gradually swept aside as Amex announced its merchant based test with Foursquare at SXSW and later took the check-in deals nationwide.
More recently, Amex teamed up with SCVNGR and Levi’s to create the first paperless daily deal redemption system. Using Amex’s Smart Offer Engine, the same one used to support the Foursquare promotions, cardholders can sync their SCVNGR LevelUp account with their Amex account and use daily deal coupons in real-time without having to print a coupon. That by itself should drive consumer engagement based on curiosity over an innovative and easy to use rewards delivery system.
To top it off, Amex now lets cardholders cash in their Membership Rewards Points to buy advertising on Facebook. Incorporated as a benefit in its Open Network, real business value is offered to small to medium businesses. Reports disclose that $6,750 equivalent of points buys a $50 Facebook ad, meaning a conversion rate valuing points around 70 basis points. Regardless of how you feel about the exchange rate, the new option allows business people to get something useful for their business for free and differentiates Amex from other card issuers.
Amex used the tagline “We live in a world of possibilities. Isn’t it time we had a social currency to match?” to introduce the concept of Social Currency. What they unlocked at the same time was the consumer’s imagination as to the many new ways points can be used to gain rewards.
American Express may have also changed the way we look at credit cards. Millions of people desired an iPhone, not to make calls, but for the available apps and the cool things they would do for you.
Today, many people “don’t want another credit card”. Through the multiple campaigns and partnerships introduced by Amex this spring, consumers they might want an Amex card for the “many cool things” that Membership Rewards will do for them.
