Amex gets it together
American Express, that stateliest of credit card companies, has moved a hefty share of its marketing budget into social media. In July, it launched a community for small business owners and plans to release a tool to filter Twitter content, called The Pulse.
Amex is beta-testing Get Together on Facebook. Get Together researches U.S. roundtrip airfares for Facebook friends who live at least 100 miles away from each other. The application looks at the user's and friends' locations and delivers the best fares. Clicking "book now" takes them to the American Express Travel site to buy the tickets.
Amex wasn't very sociable to us, refusing to provide information or comment, but Alexandra Gebhardt, chief social strategist for Inside Media Networks, a developer of social and online content distribution strategies, gave the company props for its strategy. "They're not just letting interns run wild or throwing stuff up and seeing what sticks," she says. "Obviously, someone sat in a boardroom and made these decisions."
Get Together plays to Amex's strengths and the market's demands. "Most participants in Amex's membership awards program love it," Gebhardt says. "And most travel today is booked online." The application, she adds, offers Facebook users a way to connect in person while they're connecting online.
"This is a really good implement with the available technology," Gebhardt says. "The more brands that accept this as another tool, the better stuff we'll see coming down the line."
Susan Kuchinskas is a freelance writer who has written for Adweek, Business 2.0, M-Business and internetnews.com.
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