5 American Express: the integrity brand
American Express has a significant history. In 1850, it was launched as an express freight company, and its reputation grew during the American Civil War when it transported supplies to the eventually victorious Union army. In the 1880s, American Express still shipped physical cargo, but it also moved into finance, transferring funds from the new wave of Europeans settling in America to their families back home. In 1891, American Express invented the traveller’s cheque, revolutionizing the travel and finance industries simultaneously.
Fast-forward to 1958. American Express launches its second major innovation – the American Express card. Like the traveller’s cheque, this famous piece of green plastic liberated people. Not just travellers, but consumers. The American Express card enabled people for the first time to do their shopping without having to carry cash in their pocket.
It was a charge card and, as such, wasn’t available to everybody. The American Express card therefore became the ultimate status symbol – a convenient social shorthand for ‘I have a great credit rating.’
American Express had started the move away from the grubby realities of handling cash in the 1880s through its funds transfer. The charge card moved society – or at least a certain strand of society – one step further away from notes and coins (hard finance) towards the cleaner, more mysterious world of plastic (soft finance).
The card, as a symbol of status, not only liberated people but helped to define them. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, American Express’s advertising campaigns portrayed the card as a signifier of prestige or even as a symbol of membership to an exclusive club (‘Membership has its privileges’ was one famous slogan). Business leaders such as Richard Branson starred in adverts, promoting American Express membership.
Today, although the company is now a ‘financial supermarket’ (in its own phrasing, ‘a diversified worldwide travel, financial and network services company’), it is still best known for its pieces of plastic.
However, in recent years the connotations of the American Express brand, and its cards, have undeniably changed. It has moved from an exclusive to an inclusive brand. Its charge cards have been joined by credit cards that are less
symbols of status and more a practical convenience. People now use American Express cards to pay for such mundane things as groceries and even their rent. Through advertising aimed at retail customers, it has successfully dusted down its image and shaken off old-fashioned connotations of prestige and member- ship. After all, unlike in the 1950s, the whole world is now run on plastic.
Although the move from ‘prestige’ to ‘populist’ is always a tricky one, American Express’s long-established and respected reputation for financial integrity and security has made the transition easier than it is for most brands. Its stated goal to become ‘the world’s most respected service brand’ is now back on track.
Secrets of success
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Foresight. Its introduction of traveller’s cheques and charge cards showed remarkable foresight, and has set the world on its long journey towards a cashless economy.
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The ability to evolve. From its origins as a freight company to its current ‘financial supermarket’ status, the American Express business has proved able to adapt to changing lines. So too has the brand: its recent move from an aspirational image to the mass market has strengthened its position as one of the world’s few super-brands.
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