When I think of credit cards, I immediately think of American Express (AmEx)–particularly their platinum cards. Chances are that a lot of you do, too. That’s how popular this brand is in the payment cards industry.
With a vision of providing the world’s best customer experience every day, AmEx has been issuing cards since the mid 1900s. People tout their customer service and rewards programs. But a big part of the reason this brand grew to have more than 141 million users? Their $167M display ad strategy! Let’s analyze their best display ads.
A look at American Express’s display ad strategies through the years
90% of AmEx’s ad spend is spent on video and image ads. Here’s how the brand has fared in terms of display ads since its inception.
- 2006: “My Life, My Card.” This campaign featured the “behind the camera” life details of prominent AmEx cardholders such as Kate Winslet, Wes Anderson, and Robert de Nero. The goal was to increase user acquisition by showing that owning an AmEx card was about personal identity rather than status. This campaign was an incredible success in terms of brand awareness.
- 2010: “Start Booming.” This campaign was to promote American Business OPEN, the small business division of AmEx. In a time when small businesses were suffering from a recession, the “Start Booming” campaign told the inspiring stories of real business owners who had stayed resilient through it all with the help of AmEx cards. This worked wonders in enhancing brand perception.
- 2010: “Small Business Saturday.” AmEx started this campaign as a way to show some love to small businesses and encourage people to shop small. It illustrates the people and the stories behind local businesses. Since then, this has turned into an annual initiative by the brand under the name of “Shop Small.”
2014: “#SpotlightOnChange.” Through a series of videos in partnership with LendStreet, a company that helps people in financial distress, AmEx shed light on how the financially underserved could get the help they need. This whole campaign was meant to encourage dialogue around financial exclusion.
2014: “Everyday Moments.” This campaign promoted the AmEx EveryDay Credit Card–a card designed for frequent use. It highlighted the simpler and joy-filled moments of your everyday life and how the card can help you grab onto such moments.
2017: “Realize the potential.” AmEx used this campaign to highlight all the benefits of being a cardholder. Free membership for life? Check. Exclusive rewards? Check. Personalized service? Check!
2024: With Amex Platinum. This simple ad campaign uses various scenarios to capture the benefits of having an AmEx Platinum Card.
Where does AmEx spend its display ad budget?
With the help of Adbeat, a competitive analysis platform, we go on a virtual trip to find out where and how AmEx spends its display bucks.
Ad spend and networks
From August, 2023 to August 2024, AmEx has spent a whopping $83.7M on all types of display ads, gaining a substantial 18.5 billion impressions in return.
While programmatic advertising takes the lead by making up 50% of the ad spend, video advertising isn’t that far behind, coming in at 46%. This makes sense, considering the fact that AmEx has a huge global audience of different types of customers. It’s just easier to build brand awareness and show how their services will help the users through engaging video content.
If you go through AmEx’s video ads, you’ll find a mix of short- and long-form videos, all of which clearly highlight how being an AmEx user will make your life better. The brand runs different campaigns for each of the different services it offers. But all of them have one thing in common: they are educational and urge the users to take action now!
Take this ad geared towards businesses, for example:
Even though this ad only ran for two months, it managed to get nearly 27M impressions, which is pretty impressive.
The reason for this is pretty clear. In just 15 seconds, the ad illustrates how AmEx’s Payment Solutions will make the lives of customer-facing businesses that much easier. And the CTA that urges people to “not do business without it” is super compelling, too.
Publishers
Given AmEx’s love for video ads, it should come as no surprise that the brand spends most of its budget ($38M) on YouTube. Amazon is a little far behind, with AmEx having spent only $8.1M on this publisher. Yahoo and axs.com come in at third and fourth place with an ad spend of $2.5M and $1.9M respectively.
On YouTube, the majority of AmEx’s ads are placed on official song videos by famous singers such as Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, and The Police. This seems to be a strategic move to target all types of viewers since AmEx has a vast range of services that benefit everyone–from the common man to a small business owner to large enterprises.
And they seem to be getting good results, too. An ad placed on this video of Selena Gomez got a massive 52.5M impressions on an ad spend of just $1.2M!
Similarly, the ads on Amazon are placed on the product pages of popular items, ranging from clothes and luggage to electronics. It looks like the brand is, again, targeting all types of users who could benefit from a credit card.
Despite the lower ad spend, though, the brand seems to be getting an exponentially higher rate of impressions when compared to those from YouTube. The best performing ad was placed on the purchase page of an UberEats gift card and got a massive 120.1M impressions in exchange for a mere $196.5k in ad spend. Comparatively, the next best performing ad, placed on the Amazon homepage, got 113.8M impressions for an ad spend of $265k.
On Yahoo, the ads seem to be mostly placed on the finance ($32.2k), sports ($33.3k), and news ($12.4k) channels to target the working population who are the ones most likely to use AmEx’s cards and other payment solutions.
Creatives
The numbers are almost equally split between video ads (46%) and image ads (44%), with the other types of display ads (such as text, text + image, and HTML5) making up less than 11%.
The data from Adbeat highlights that AmEx’s best performing video ad (highlighting their business solutions) only ran for two months. But, in that short span of time, it gained nearly 178M impressions on a $4.3M ad spend.
The ad is short and sweet, manages to address the main customer pain points in just 15 seconds, and ends with a compelling CTA– “AmEx: Don’t do business without it.”
AmEx’s image ads also pack a punch, with each one highlighting a different benefit for users.
This 👇 one talks about an attractive welcome offer,
While this 👇 one brings attention to a significant benefit for Delta travelers!
Landing pages
AmEx’s landing pages make a compelling argument as to why you should become a cardmember. Let’s analyze this 👇 one, which got 79.5M impressions with an ad spend of $1.9M.
The first thing you notice is the attention-grabbing selling point which talks about how AmEx cards make you enjoy your life more. You’re already hooked and want to check out their offerings. Emotional connection? Check.
As you scroll down, you have the option of exploring cards based on what kind of offers you want the most. Is it to rack up points on dining, or collect airline miles while you travel? Click on that tab, and you’ll know which card will suit you the most. Major pain point highlighted? Check.
Beneath all of this is more information about the common features you get with each card to allay your worries. Sprinkled throughout the landing page are CTAs that urge you to “learn more” and “explore.”
Now that you’re armed with all the information you need and (probably) ready to sign up for a card, the page presents this ☝️– Buttons making it convenient for you to take action now. Somehow still not ready for a card yet? Worry not, for the landing page promises more services that you can check out!
All in all, a super gripping landing page that seems to anticipate your questions at every turn and provides answers that assuage your fears!
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