American Express: WELCOME TO SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: AMERICAN EXPRESS
Agency: DIGITAS
Category: Financial Products & Services
Advertising campaign: WELCOME TO SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY


Outcome
In 2012, nearly 28,000 visitors were driven to ShopSmall.com by digital direct channels, including emails and internal banners. These visitors had a higher completion rate among tools found on the site:•SBO Toolkit - 10.7% completion rate (2.6% for those not driven by direct channels (i.e., 4x as likely)And when organizing the Ambassador Program, 75% of the total Chamber submissions were attributed to emails sent out inviting them to participate. Because of the Activation Pack, participants reported increased customer traffic, higher frequency of AmEx swipes, and a desire to participate in similar programs in the future.

Execution
Both the email communications and Activation Pack were uniquely targeted approaches to directly communicate and activate small businesses.Content ranged from announcing the day, encouraging the use of the tools found on ShopSmall.com, reminding consumers to Shop Small on November 24, and thanking them for their participation post-SBS.The Activation Pack was a no-brainer to gain the interest of Chambers and offer them a turnkey way to rally their local small businesses. Filled with SBS and Shop Small collateral that could be easily handed out to excite consumers, the Pack was a huge success.

Client Brief Or Objective
During the holiday season, small businesses can often be overlooked by shoppers who usually think of large, national retailers first. In 2010, American Express created Small Business Saturday® (SBS), a new shopping day between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to help fulfill American Express OPEN®’s mission: helping businesses do more business. The objective of the third annual SBS was to connect directly with small business owners (SBOs) to educate them on how they could make the day their own, and community activists, who could help rally their local communities in support of SBS and shopping small.

Implementation
A direct component of the 2012 campaign was the Ambassador Program Activation Pack. The Ambassador Program was created, in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to rally communities nationwide. Nearly 50 Chambers received an Activation Pack (including Shop Small® branded gift cards, a printed banner, tote bags, and balloons) to help create community events, with the focus on local business participation.Additionally, direct, dynamic email communications system was in place to reach SBOs nationwide. Branded emails were versioned and respectively sent to American Express Merchants and SBOs who submitted their email address on ShopSmall.com.