American Express ‘s ‘Amex Sync Show’ featuring Jay-Z at South By SouthWest (SXSW) on March 8 was not only YouTube live- streamed on the brand’s channel, but also offered song requests via Twitter.
Fans were offered the chance to choose the songs for Jay-Z to perform by tweeting their song request with the hashtag #JAYZSyncShow.
To further embrace the digital activation around this Amex-backed show, a brand-owned rebroadcast will run from 13 to 19 March on YouTube, Twitter and Xbox LIVE.
The fan request mechanic reflects the product that the payments brand is promoting – Amex ‘Sync.Tweet.Save’. This is a utility-led initiative for its users that enables the easy, automatic transfer of savings to a synced card – coupons are so 2011.
This digital service/product sees American Express aim to position itself as the connective tissue between merchants and consumers on social media – a partner that will provide a mix of offers, data, and branding to its members.”
In short, Amex wants to become ‘the card for the social media generation’.
Several big name US brands have already signed on to the scheme, including Best Buy, Dell, The Cheesecake Factory, FedEx, H&M, McDonald’s, Ticketmaster, Whole Foods, Virgin America and Zappos.
The wider social networking promotion is being promoted with the tagline “Sync. Tweet. Save”.
“With Twitter, we’ve really hit the trifecta. We have a great platform in Twitter,” said Ed Gilligan, Vice Chairman, American Express. “We know our cardmembers are engaged in Twitter. We’ve been working with them to think about how can we help them move from conversations to commerce. To turn a tweet into a transaction.”
Furthermore, SXSW attendees, eligible cardmembers in Austin will receive $10 when they sync their Card, tweet the special offer #AmexAustin10 and make purchases using the synced card in Austin during SXSW from March 9 to March 13.
Comment:
This fairly innovative social media integration via Twitter should enable card members to turn customized Twitter hashtags into savings via the sync.americanexpress.com site.
A genuine, clear cut benefit to members – adding a further reason to sign-up for a card that typically costs as opposed to its ‘free’ competitors.
But at the moment the scheme is just available for US cardholders. We hope this goes worldwide soon. After all, American Express builds its core value and utility on its global reach.
Interestingly, this initiative might also be a method to demonstrate a tweet’s ROI. Not only in direct commercial terms, but also Twitteer benefits leading to more trending topics, followers and brand-backed conversations.
It follows in the footsteps of Amex’s previous social media work – such as its Foursquare check-in partnership and its Facebook Likes for rewards.
Links:
https://sync.americanexpress.com/
www.youtube.com/americanexpress
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