American Express Blue Brand Analysis
American Express Blue Brand Analysis
Company Analysis
History
Henry Wells, William Fargo, and John Butterfield, founded American Express in
began as a competitor against the U.S. Postal Office beginning with money orders, but
today they offer a wide variety of options (answers.com). The company launched their
Traveler Cheque in 1891 as a solution for the customary letter of credit, and finally their
first credit card in 1958. The company is now competing with three major services,
Philosophy
Current American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault states, ―Adaptability is one of the
keys to company success in the rapidly changing terrain of the global marketplace‖
basic philosophy and mission is ―…to be the world‘s most respected service brand.‖
American Express began as a company who believed in serving the people and making
life simpler and have continued to do so, still believing in serving their customers with
advertising tactics have previously done little to improve that image. In an attempt to
increase their market share in 1992, the company changed endorsers from Ogilvy &
American Express due to the reported cost of $60 million for the new ad campaign.
While American Express was spending money in order increase market share, current
stakeholders felt the company should have lowered discount rates (Giesen).
As a result of the 1992 advertisement disaster, American Express‘ brand goal was to
―support all American Express cards,‖ according to newswire.ca. In the past ten years,
American Express‘ has moved away from the controversial advertisement that promoted
excessive spending, to celebrity endorsed ads that promote the catch phrase, ―My Life.
My Card. American Express‖ (Giesen). As a result, the company‘s market value shot up
Market Analysis
Overview
The U.S. credit card market is the most developed in the world, with consumers spending
more on credit and holding more cards in their wallet than those of any other country. In
terms of value, the U.S. counts for 53.1% of the global retail lending market (U.S. –
Retail Lending). The chart below shows the market share for the most prevalent regions.
Geography Percentage
U.S. 0.531
Europe 0.299
Asia-Pacific 0.151
Rest of the World 0.019
Currently, bank credit cards account for roughly 18% of personal consumption
expenditures made by U.S. consumers (Personal Credit Institutions). Retail credit cards
and debit cards account for another 6%. According to CardWeb.com Inc., debit and credit
Market Size
The U.S. retail lending market had a total outstanding credit balance of $10,847.7 billion
in 2004, representing a compound annual growth rate of 10.5% for the five-year period
experienced a growth rate of 8.6% during the same period. The consumer credit sector
was valued at $2151.4 billion and held 19.8% of the market share in 2004, as shown in
Category Percentage
Mortgage 0.802
Consumer Credit 0.198
In the mid 2000s, the average American consumer was estimated to have 11 credit
obligations on record with a credit bureau (Personal Credit Institutions). Of these, 7 are
credit cards. The U.S. lending market experienced increasingly high growth rates in the
past five years, with a high of 10.9% in 2004 (U.S. – Retail Lending).
Growth
The U.S. lending market is forecast to grow at a lower rate than in previous years, with an
anticipated compound annual growth rate of 6.2% for 2004-2009 (U.S. – Retail Lending).
This is expected to drive the market‘s outstanding balance to $14,634.6. The chart on the
following page shows the expected growth rate for the entire global market.
Growth within the U.S. market can be attributed to the country‘s increasing Internet
culture, which has caused a significant increase in the number of customers using Internet
and telephone banking (U.S. – Retail Lending). The increasing popularity of credit cards
Trends
Credit companies have become more and more instrumental in educating consumers in
along the East Coast states have also been taking advantage of access to free credit
reports as well (U.S. – Retail Lending). This trend has resulted in better-informed
consumers who borrow with more ease and confidence. There‘s also a growing trend
among consumers to tap into funds using home equity credit as well as debit cards, which
Competition
Visa currently operates as the leading consumer payment brand in the world, ahead of
both MasterCard and American Express. Most of the difference in market share is
Uncontrollable environmental factors also have the potential to affect the retail lending
market, such as in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated the assets and livelihoods of
the U.S. market‘s consumers. In response, companies were forced to offer relief strategies
Consumer Analysis
Market Segmentation
American Express offers a line of credit to any U.S. citizen who is making $10,000 a year
or more. They offer four main different types of cards, those being Gold, Platinum,
Green and Blue. Each card offers different plans and benefits and each card can also be
The Green Card is American Express‘ most basic line of credit. With the Green Card,
American Express‘ Membership Rewards program can also be used to earn points to be
Gold Card is a card more specifically targeted towards individuals who travel and attend
entertainment events often. With this card the Membership Rewards is highly emphasized
with points redeemable for ―tickets to exciting theater, concerts, sporting events, and
family entertainment events‖. With American Express‘ Platinum Cards you can ―get
room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, late checkout, and special amenities around the
world with the Fine Hotels & Resorts program‖. This card is designed especially for
world travelers, who don‘t just like to travel but who like to travel comfortably and no
doubt have the means to do so. The Blue Card offered by American Express is the next
step up from the Green Card for those interested in being able to manage accounts online.
This card is emphasized as the card for the individuals of today, offering card
management online including balance transfers and bill payments, point rewards with 125
online brand name retailers, double points awarded when travels are booked online using
American Express Travel. This card is all about convenience of accessibility through the
Internet. In connection with this card another product that American Express can provide
for a small extra fee is a protection plan against card theft. Another feature that the Blue
Card has that the others do not is Blue Cash, which is an ―unlimited cash back financial
tool‖. With this feature users can use their reward points to earn cash back.
Prospective Consumers
American Express has highly segmented variations of each card, offering upwards of 30
different variations in all. One of the better-known programs for a more segmented
market is American Express‘ Corporate Card program, designed for businesses. The
Corporate Card offers ―practical solutions to the expense management challenges facing
growing companies‖ and ―options to help you better manage business expenses‖. With
different specialized programs designed for small businesses to Fortune 500 companies,
American Express truly does tailor every credit line to their customers‘ needs.
Out of all of the different consumers that use this product most are individuals or
businesses looking to establish a line of credit with a well-known company that offers its
customers many different types of rewards and benefits for utilizing its services. The
rewards that American Express offers to its customers offer true benefits to its users,
Brand Analysis
Current Situation
American Express‘ sales as of February 1st, 2007 were at $58.22 Price/Sales Ratio 2.64.
Their Shares Outstanding was at 1,204 million, and their Market Capital at $70,096.9
million. American Express has many different cards for many different target markets,
with special benefits that vary among each. Most of the attributes include the same perks
Target Market
American Express Blue is targeted toward students, with fast and simple services.
ExpressPay is a way to buy things using the card without having to swipe. This creates
Benefits
The fundamentals of the Blue card include guaranteed protection for shoppers and
travelers. Some examples include the global assist hotline for customers traveling for
more than 100 miles away from home, which provides security and peace with medical,
legal, financial or other emergency assistance right besides them. The purchase protection
plan allows consumers to shop with confidence where the plan protects eligible purchases
made with the card against accidental damages and theft for up to 90 days from the date
issues but users will feel like they are being thanked for choosing American Express.
Competitive Analysis
Overview
The top bank credit card issuers in the United States are JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup,
MBNA, American Express, Bank of America, Discover, Capital One, HSBC, Providian,
Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo (Personal Credit Institutions). These are American
Express‘s direct competitors. Debit cards are an indirect competitor to all companies—as
- Citigroup The world‘s pre-eminent financial services company, with some 200 million
customer accounts in more than 100 countries (U.S. Retail Lending). It provides
consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a broad range of
financial products and services.
- Capital One Emerged as one of the America's largest consumer franchises with almost 50 million
customer accounts and one of the nation's most recognized brands because of their mission foundation
(Capital One services).
- Morgan Stanley In addition to corporate investment banking services like securities underwriting and
mergers and acquisitions advice, the firm offers brokerage and asset management products and
services for institutional and individual investors (Morgan Stanley).
Market Share
Combined, the top ten bank credit card issuers held over 85 percent share of the U.S.
credit card market (Personal Credit Institutions). Total Visa cards in circulation in 2004
exceeded 1 billion worldwide, and annual transaction volume exceeded $1.1 trillion.
American Express accounted for 22.3 percent of the $1.58 trillion rung up in credit-card
transactions last year, ranking it third after Visa and MasterCard (Sidel and Athevaley).
seeking will be engaged, while Visa and MasterCard generally target a large audience
(Jalili). In the past year, American Express has been generating additional spending by
entering into relationships with certain banks, including Citigroup and Bank of America
(Sidel and Athevaley). Under those agreements, the banks are issuing cards that are
branded with the American Express name and processing the transactions over American
Features
Visa and MasterCard both have several cardholder perk programs, but almost all of them
are offered through the card networks‘ bank and co-brand partners. Rewards have
become lavish in recent years, with offerings including cash-back rewards as high as 5%
on Discover cards, rewards points toward purchases at Disney theme parks on Chase
cards, and oil changes, tire rotation, and tune-ups on Bank of America Cards (Sidel and
Athevaley). The American Express Blue cards aim to help maximize cash rebates.
Cardholders can earn 1 percent back at grocery stores, drugstores, and gas stations, and
0.5 percent back on most purchases until they‘ve charged $6,500 (Stern). Then it‘s 5
percent on those everyday categories and 15 percent on everything else, with no cap.
Promotional Expenditures
Advertising spending by the leading credit card networks, including Visa, MasterCard,
Discover, and American Express, exceeded $800 million in 2001 (Personal Credit
Institutions). Marketing dollars spent by individual card issuers, such as banks, totaled
roughly $10 billion that year. In promoting its Blue card, American Express launched a
contest offering cash prizes up to 50,000 for Java developers to create new uses for the
card (Bryant). MasterCard has set aside part of a $50 million fund to invest in high-tech
companies that develop new uses for its smart cards. It has also donated $5 million to set
American Express made its ―My life, my card‖ campaign omnipresent by boosting media
spending nearly 37 percent to $602 million (Frazier). In the face of that challenge, both
Visa and MasterCard each spent about half that amount. Still, Visa edged upward 0.4
percent to 52.1 percent market share and MasterCard declined imperceptibly in share as
Visa and MasterCard are also attacking the market with new or augmented messages.
Visa recently launched a new campaign, ―Life takes Visa,‖ and MasterCard has added an
interactive twist to its ―Priceless‖ work that encourages customers to fill in the blanks and
write their own ―Priceless‖ campaign (Frazier). The charts below shows the market share
and the dramatic jump in advertising spending from 2004 to 2005 among the top four
credit card companies and the top credit card issuers as well:
- Workforce Diversity & Equal Opportunity Employee networks play an integral role in the
overall diversity strategy by helping to support the company's business objectives.
Weaknesses
- Training & Financial LiteracyThere are escalating demands from internal customers, as
well as the need to better educate the American Express staff to improve performance
and create new vision and mission statements (Heal Thyself).
- Cut-backs American Express has just recently ended the 5% and double-cash-back
rebates offered for cardholders who frequent grocery stores and gas stations (Stern).
The latest reward schemes are more complicated, less generous, and require some
planning.
Opportunities
- Further Innovation To attract new customers in a crowded market, American Express
needs to pitch cards with sleek new features that it can pitch to banks, retailers, and
direct-mail companies. The industry can be transformed by tapping into customer
emotions with credit cards exhibiting pictures of their favorite universities, hobbies,
or sports teams. (Sidel).
- Co-branding American Express has seen opportunities for higher growth in the SME
market (Frary). The company could expand further with co-branding into other forms
of travel such as cruise ships or rental agencies as well to promote its brand.
- Product Placement There are stronger opportunities for product placement using more
popular, highly rated television programs and movies alike. Venturing into regular
daytime programming such as the Oprah Show, for example, would create total
product awareness among a huge audience.
Threats
- Competition The credit card world comes hand-in-hand with a very experienced and
aggressive group of competitors who will fight even harder to defend turf they once
claimed as their own.
Advertising Objectives
Expand customer awareness by 15% within 5 years‘ time and stay ahead of the major
Target Market
The Blue card is targeted to individuals with a youthful mindset, who want great value,
financial flexibility and world class customer service. The card is launched to a group of
people who had previously not seen American Express as relevant to their needs,
conceived both in terms of an emotional affinity that would embrace a younger, hipper
and more modern prospect mindset. The intended customers are motivated by a success
Intended Message
American Express Co. is the world‘s most respected service brand, aimed at enriching the
lives of American Express customers, their families, and our communities. The company
intends to create a selling experience with honest, open disclosure, with the idea that the
people are in control and managing their own lives, and credit cards are interactive and
more frequent basis to make sure they penetrate through the clutter of the many new
message out there more frequently and creatively, American Express will increase its
market share. The prospering of the Blue card was a combination of product appeal—
a card with a ―smart chip‖ for secure online shopping—and a seamless multimedia
campaign (Cardona). More than 2 million Blue cards were circulating by mid-April,
with more than half of them to users who didn‘t have another American Express card
researcher, estimates users transferred $1.8 billion in balances from other credit cards.
By making the success of the Blue card known, along with the featured benefits and
services American Express offers, the company can make themselves known and
- Continued Modernization The card-design boom recently got a boost when American
Express licensed the technology used to create its popular transparent Blue card. The
clear card‘s unusual look received a wave of attention when it was first issued, and
executives say Blue card holders hang onto the card longer than some other versions
and consumers use it more often than the other cards in their wallets. The cards are
like art to the customer. Combining the best of form and function, the Blue card is a
stylish card with state-of-the-art technology, making it easy, secure, and efficient
whether for everyday shopping, travel, or online use. Innovation must continue to be
at the heart of American Express‘ offerings. The company‘s products must remain
unmatched with original features, lifestyle benefits, and services. Lifestyles are
constantly evolving, and consumers are making choices based on what distinguishes
them, such as the car they drive, the clothes they buy, and the places they vacation
(Bawaba). With payment cards being an essential aspect of everyday activities, the
card a person carries is not just a payment tool but a lifestyle statement and accessory.
Bottom Line
The Blue card has stemmed from the need to support the growing sophistication in
consumer lifestyle and purchase habits. Those who aspire to have the best and get the
best out of their life should not have to look further than benefits and services of
American Express. The company must aim to redesign its coveted Blue card with the
newest technology and security features every 12 months to maintain public interest.
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