GOD IS IN THE DETAILS

TitleGOD IS IN THE DETAILS
BrandAMERICAN EXPRESS
Product / ServiceAMERICAN EXPRESS CENTURION
CategoryA01. Mailings
EntrantOGILVY HONG KONG, HONG KONG
Entrant Company:OGILVY HONG KONG, HONG KONG
DM/Advertising Agency:OGILVY HONG KONG, HONG KONG

Credits

Credits

Name Company Position
Shayne Pooley OgilvyOne Worldwide HK Executive Creative Director
Houston Wong OgilvyOne Worldwide HK Creative Director / Writer
Matthew Kwan OgilvyOne Worldwide HK Creative Director
Winnie Fok OgilvyOne Worldwide HK Art Director
Daphne Tang OgilvyOne Worldwide HK Traffic Manager
Viko Wong OgilvyOne Worldwide HK Group Account Director
Eva Wong OgilvyOne Worldwide HK Account Management

The Brief

To successfully convert the top 1-2% of super-affluent existing American Express Platinum Card members in Hong Kong to the Centurion Card. Firstly, we needed to establish a super premium niche that sets us apart from other luxury brands. Secondly, we had to do this without mass marketing; mass marketing would undermine the ‘by invitation only’ quality of Centurion. The approach had to reflect a sense of exclusivity and prestige unique to Centurion. But with so many copycat so-called elite cards in the market, we had to deliver our message in a way that truly shows Centurion is the one and only Black Card.

Creative Execution

While the copycat elite cards just used fancy words and photos to paint a superficial façade, we used a real story to entice our audience. After all, nothing says more about Centurion than a real testimonial from a like-minded individual. To make this story more tangible and intriguing, we sent a vial of real Dead Sea Sand alongside a vial of sand from a local beach to emphasise the world of difference Centurion delivers through its attention to detail in service. All this combined to bring the life a proposition that we knew would appeal to our ultra-affluent targets.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

These people are used to getting everything they want. Centurion offers exactly this: experiences money can’t buy. The solution: tell one Centurion Member’s story (testimonial). The story is about a Cardmember who wanted a handful of Dead Sea Sand for his daughter’s school project. Centurion dispatched a courier across the desert to fetch the sand, which was air-couriered to the Member. We told the story in a premium DM, which included a vial of real Dead Sea Sand. The story was told in an engaging way – truly the stuff of legends.

Results

The strategy worked. The DM was hand-delivered to drive desire and get our targets to call for a sales rep to visit them. 65% of recipients booked an appointment – 5 times higher than previous campaigns. Ultimately, close to 100% signed up for Centurion. A surprising outcome was that 80% of these new Members also signed up for a Supplementary Card, which effectively doubled the number of ultra-elite Black Cards issued. This proves the power of storytelling versus our competitor’s falsely hyped-up glossy brochures.