This document provides an overview and analysis of American Express's proposed marketing strategy for a new American Express Student Credit Card. It includes a situation analysis of the credit card industry and competitive landscape. The proposed strategy targets college students through social media, streaming, and face-to-face marketing. The strategy outlines objectives, creative content, media planning, budgets, and an evaluation plan. If successful, the new student card could help American Express gain new long-term customers and market share among younger consumers.

1. Table of Contents
Executive Summary…………………………….………………….………….2
Situation Analysis………………….……………………………….…………3
Industry Overview…………………………………………………….3
Analysis……………………………………………………...………..4
Company Overview………………………………………………...…5
Brand Overview……………………………………………………….7
Product Overview………………………………………………….…..8
Sales ………………………………………………………...................9
Competition……………………………………………………………9
Market Share…………………………………………………………..11
Target Market ………………………………………………………....11
Marketing and Advertising Expenditure Overview ……………….….13
Media Budget ………………………………………………………....13
Organization Objectives…………………………………………………….…15
Marketing Objectives………………………….………………….…...15
Advertising Objectives……………………………………………...…15
Creative Strategy………………………………………………………….…...17
Creative Brief…………………………………………………….……17
Project Summary………………………………………….…...17
Key Message…………………………………………………..17
Mood and Tone………………………………………………..17
Expected Responses…………………………………………...17
Campaign Theme……………………………………………....18
Media Strategy………………………………………………………………....18
Target Market Identification…………………………………………...18
Media Plan…………………………………………………………...…………19
Overview……………………………………………………………….19
Schedule………………………………………………………………..19
Social Media/Pandora/Spotify……………………………….…19
YouTube/Hulu……………………………………………….…20
Face-to-Face Marketing…………………………………….…..20
Reach and Frequency……………………………………………….…..20
Media/Production Costs…………………………………………….…..21
Ad Production & Commentary …………………………………….…..22
Advertisement 1: Social Media ……………………………...…22
Advertisement 2: Web Banner……………………………….…22
Advertisement 3: Print…………………………………….……23
Advertisement 4: Billboard ……………………………….……23
Advertisement 5: Commercial……………………………......…23
30 Second TV Commercial Story-Board ………………..…..…24
Evaluation Plan …………………………………………………………..….…25
Social Media……………………………………………………..……..25
Hulu/YouTube …………………………………………………..……..26
Appendix……………………………………………………………….………27
References …………………………………………………………………..…36

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Executive Summary
With the credit card industry expanding throughout the years and American Express
products at a mature stage in their product life cycle with a strong and growing revenue, our team
has decided to produce a new product while expanding to a new market. The American Express
Student Card will be entering the college student market offering a credit card for students with a
minimum of 3.0 Cumulative GPA and promoting 0% interest fees for the first year within
signing up. This card would also offer beneficial rewards such as cash-back for textbooks,
groceries, and traveling expenses. By targeting college students and the parents of college
students that are current members of American Express, our team suggests to move from
traditional to non-traditional marketing methods allowing for the usage of social media networks
as well as radio and video streaming tools. This would allow the American Express company to
use a smaller advertising budget than usual using a competitive parity that suggests a budget
closer to their competitors. Because of the advertising and marketing objectives, this new
product’s advertising and marketing strategies will have a different approach than the usual
American Express’ while still keeping a prestigious and exclusive reputation that has been
maintained throughout the years. Effectively and efficiently reaching our target audience is
crucial for the expansion of the American Express brand; therefore, our team has decided to
select particular social media, radio, and streaming channels that promote a strong presence,
benefit the brand, and are relevant to the target audience. Through these channels we will push
American Express Student Card’s key message: “When everything seems to be going wrong,
American Express has your back!” With suggested evidence as well as quality-designed
commercials and advertisements, our team has created an effective and efficient campaign that
can meet the suggested objectives while satisfying the needs of our new target market.

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Situation Analysis
Industry Overview
According to Holodny (2015), credit as a form of payment has been around since the
days of barter in the 1800’s and even paper cards in the 1900’s. The first ever credit card were
distributed in 1949 by a company called Diner Club. These cards were the first ever general
merchandise charge card. From there it grew into Bank of America credit cards in the 1950’s,
which successfully branched off into Visa and MasterCard by 1966. In 1958, American Express
entered the credit card market followed by Discover in 1986. People who use American Express
as their primary card spend the most per month on average around $1,687, according to a chart
published by Morgan Stanley's Cheryl Pate. Meanwhile, those using Visa, Discover, and
MasterCard as their primary cards spend less than half that amount at $843, $737, and $639 per
month on average, respectively (Holodny, 2015).
The credit card industry is still “a large, growing, and profitable segment in the financial
service industry” (Flamme & Grieve, 2015) with $118 billion industry revenue and a 2.4 percent
annual growth rate (IBISWorld, 2015). Over 53 percent of that 118 billion dollar revenue comes
from the industry’s four biggest players; American Express, Bank of America, Capital One and
JP Morgan Chase (IBISWorld, 2015). However, the credit card companies have it has a fierce
competitor of mobile payments rising up to meet it. Mobile payments such as; Apple Pay, PayPal
and e-wallets are all fighting to take over the credit card’s reign of being the top non-cash form
of payment. “The mobile payment market in the US alone was around $50 billion in 2014
(Forbes, 2015).” The popularity of such forms of mobile payments comes from our society’s
growing dependence of smartphones and other devices. Although credit cards do have the
advantage of having “stored credentials” which the other forms of mobile payment have not yet

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caught up to. Credit card companies have to charge fees such as interest rates and transaction or
processing fees in order to cover the cost of allowing companies to use their network and
infrastructure to gain payments from their transactions (Forbes, 2015).
Analysis
With the growing popularity of mobile payments occurring, credit card companies need
to be even more aware of their target market and users. It is said that “the substantial
opportunities available now to be the leading payment option for ecommerce and digital startups,
which are targeting a younger and more potentially lucrative, active and long-term consumer
demographic” (Flamme & Grieve, 2015). With this threat it makes sense for American Express
to introduce a student credit card now. If they implement the product now before mobile
payments completely take over the financial service industry, they can gain these new younger
members and begin to build a life-long relationship with them. By obtaining them while they are
still young and somewhat parent- dependent American Express can gain their already existing
cardholder’s children and bring them in as new members just as they are beginning to be
financially independent. College students are constantly looking for deals and student discounts;
if American Express launches a student card that has cash-back with a point reward systems that
is specific to their age range, American Express could gain their membership for life.
A perfect example of why student credit cards are beneficial is when you have a young
graduate coming out of college with $100,000 worth of student loan debt and a mere to none
credit line with a low income. It would be a better bet for them to join with a credit card
company they could stay with for life rather than continuing to take out more loans with banks
with no interest in helping them. This is where a company like American Express can come in

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with their perceived elatedness and rewards systems to help these young students build a good
credit line while helping them become financially stable.
American Express operates through four reportable segments: U.S. Card Services,
International Card Services, Global Commercial Services and Global Network & Merchant
Services. The main competitors in the industry are Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. While Visa
is the market leader, American Express second in market share by purchase volume (AXP
Industry Analysis, n.d.). Because the industry is large, growing, and a stable market, it is
profitable. A lot of purchases have shifted to the web, and allows for faster purchasing because
the card information is stored. The industry has introduced rewards programs such as “cash-
back” and discounts at certain establishments, to give incentive to the consumer (Flamme &
Grieve, 2015).
Company Overview
American Express Co. was founded by Henry Wells, William G. Fargo and John Warren
Butterfield on March 28, 1850 and is headquartered in New York, NY (Forbes, 2015). American
Express began as a freight and valuables delivery service for the rapidly expanding nation. The
U.S. Postal Service was unreliable at the time and only allowed shipment of letter-sized
envelopes. This provided a business opening for the company to ship larger and valuable items
such as jewelry, cash, stock certificates and other merchandise. American Express took a turn
when it began to realize more profit from a sector of its customer base that included banks and
other financial institutions. Banks placed a high value on American Express’ secure and reliable
delivery service for interbank transfers and drafts made between eastern cities and the growing
western territories. American Express then began focusing its efforts on this sector and used its
connections to eventually enter the financial services sector.

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American Express Co. is a global payments and travel company. The company, through
its subsidiaries, offers products and services including charge and credit payment card products
and travel-related services to consumers and businesses around the world (Forbes, 2015).
American Express makes it easier and more rewarding for consumers to purchase the things they
need and for merchants to sell their goods and services. American Express also provides
innovative payment, travel and expense management solutions for individuals and businesses of
all sizes. They earn 34.3 billion dollars in annual revenue, and have 112.2 million cards-in-force
(American Express, n.d.).
American Express’ mission statement explains that, “We have a mission to be the world’s
most respected service brand. To do this, we have established a culture that supports our team
members, so they can provide exceptional service to our customers.” They have their Blue Box
Values that reflect who they are as a brand and what they stand for. Some examples of these
values are, customer commitment, integrity, teamwork, respect for people, a will to win, personal
accountability, and promoting health and wellbeing are a few examples (Our Blue Box Values,
n.d.). American Express has numerous competitors including Bank of America, Capital One
Financial, Banco Santander, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Discover Financial Services,
JCB, PayPal and China UnionPay (American Express Co (AXP), n.d.).
The United States Card Services segment offers a wide range of card products and
services to its consumers and small businesses. They provide travel services to card members
and other customers. The International Card Services segment offers proprietary consumer and
small business cars outside of the United States. The Global Commercial Services segment
provides expense management services to companies and organizations worldwide through its
global corporate payments and global business travel businesses. Global corporate payments

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offer a range of expense management solutions to companies worldwide through its corporate
card programs and Business-to-Business payment solutions. Global business travel provides
globally integrated solutions, both online and offline, as well as through mobile applications, to
help organizations manage and optimize their travel investments and service their traveling
employees. The Global Network & Merchant services segment operates a global payment
network that processes and settles proprietary and nonproprietary card transactions. It also
provides point-of-sale products, multi-channel marketing programs and capabilities, services and
data, leveraging the global closed-loop network (American Express Co, 2015).
Brand Overview
When a brand has achieved brand recognition it is said that they have reached brand
equity. American Express has reached that goal through its strong global presence across the
entire payments chain. They are the world’s largest card issuer, the premium network for high-
spending card members, a processor of millions of transactions daily and a partner that provides
business-building services to a worldwide merchant base. Having a horizontal scale across
payments gives American Express diverse opportunities to drive innovation in the marketplace
and leads to the gateway to a broader array of services that further differentiate American
Express and its brand. Their direct relationship with consumers and business merchants
worldwide enables them to offer an array of valuable services that enrich lives, build business
success, encourage financial responsibility, and create communities of people with common
interests. This is what makes American Express a uniquely powerful service company (American
Express, n.d.).

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Product Overview
The definition of a credit card is “a small card issued by a bank, business, etc. allowing
the holder to purchase goods or services on credit” (businessdictionary.com). And the definition
of credit is “the ability of a customer to obtain goods and services before payment, based on the
trust that payment will be made in the future” (businessdictionary.com). American Express offers
21 different kinds of credit cards; ranging from “everyday” cards to point cards for hotel chains
like Hilton Gardens or JetBlue airlines as well as their well known business cards. For a
complete list of all of the cards that they offer, please see figure 1 in appendix. Each card offers
its own separate benefits such as points, miles and percentage of cash-back on certain items.
The American Express Student Card will be available to students who have a GPA of 3.0
or higher with zero percent interest fees for the first year of signing up. We want to keep
American Express’s prestigious reputation and outlook. By requiring students to have a 3.0 GPA
or higher we will allow American Express to obtain their reliable and responsible card
members. Students who meet this requirement will receive cash back on essential items that they
purchase regularly. Card holders will receive 3 percent cash-back on groceries, textbooks and
school supplies, and 1 percent on travel expenses. Students who receive a 3.5 GPA per semester
will receive $25 cash back for their good grades. These rewards will give the students incentives
to sign up for a card with American Express, and they help differentiate our card against
competitors.

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Sales
As for American Express’ sales and financials they seem to be in pretty good shape. They
currently have an AXP of 76.50 dollars and a $0.82 percentage of change. As for their actual
sales percentage American Express year one had a 2.76 percent, year three with 3.60 percent and
year five had a 6.22 percent (American Express Co (AXP.N). Their main sources of revenue are
from discount revenue, net interest income, and other, see figure 2 in appendix.
Competition
The use of credit cards has become very popular in these coming years. However, not
many know the difference between each. Currently, American Express’ biggest credit card
competitors include Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.
Visa & MasterCard. According to Young (2009), Visa revamped their brand in 2009 by
introducing the word "Go" in a new global tagline, "More people go with Visa." Rather than
encourage charging up big aspirational purchases, their message became about using Visa for
those things that are important to people in their everyday life. For the first nine months of 2009,
Visa spent $129 million in network and cable TV advertisements. They launched its "Go"
campaign with two national spots in "American Idol" and advertising spots during the NFL game
schedule.
MasterCard, on the other hand, launched their "Priceless" campaign about 19 years ago
which has been synonymous with the brand itself. The "Priceless" messaging was created and
used to focus on consumer sensibility and responsibility during tough times. According to Young
(2009), “MasterCard spent just over $100 million...with a combination of network, cable, spot
and syndication” (para. 8). They placed a strong advertising schedule on drama and over 30
percent in sports programming.

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According to Cash (n.d.), Visa and MasterCard have very few differences between the
two but are both networks used by banks and merchants in order to process payments made by
the consumer. With that being said, Visa and MasterCard do not issue their own cards but instead
license their network to a bank. For example: Chase uses the Visa network. Both of these
networks provide benefits such as rental car insurance, fraud security, and payment protection.
However, when it comes to benefits such as rewards, cash back, and balance transfer deals, it is
up to the bank or merchant to decide on the terms and regulations as well as the promotions they
wish to provide (para. 3). Although Visa and MasterCard do not issue their own cards, they are
the leading networks and types of credit cards that people own, see figure 3 in appendix.
Discover. Similar to American Express, Discover issues and process their own cards and
payments and has been in close competition with American Express in terms of customer service
satisfaction, rewards, benefits, and overall satisfaction by consumers as detailed by J.D. Power
(2015).
However, Discover differs from American Express in that “Discover...issues only one
type of card, with cash-back rewards and no annual fees...offers tools to help users manage
spending and debt, and it provides cardholders with credit scores free of charge” (Hoffman,
2014). Discover offers many rewards and cash back to college students as well as 0 percent APR
for the first year when a new client signs up.

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Market Share
Visa was the market leader in 2014 and is slightly rising. American Express tied
MasterCard for market share in 2010 and American Express has held market share over
MasterCard since 2010. Because of Visa’s rise in the market, the rest of the market is
experiencing a slight decline. Based on the number of cards in circulation, Visa is still the market
leader, yet MasterCard holds 30.7 percent of the market. This indicates that although there are a
lot of MasterCard holders, they are not spending as much as possible. American Express and
Discover hold the same percentage of market share, the difference is that more American
Express holders are spending money, where-as Discover’s cardholders are not purchasing on
their card, which hurts their market share. See figures 4 and 5 in appendix.
American Express has the highest annual and monthly purchase/spending volume
(cardhub.com). Because American Express is known as a corporate credit card, it makes sense
that the average cardholder has the highest spending volume. See figure 6 in the appendix also
implies that Visa has the most users, spending about an average amount based on the market.
Target Market
According to Hair (2015), there has been a decreased likelihood to follow a budget, pay
credit card bills in full and on time, save and invest, or review bills or credit histories amongst
college students within the last three years. “College students are becoming more confident and
less competent when it comes to managing their personal finances” (Hair, 2015, para. 1). In
today’s market, it is extremely important for an individual to have a good credit score, especially
if that person is planning on purchasing a vehicle or leasing a house or apartment. Because of
this, it is helpful to start building your credit score at an early age. By targeting college students
within the ages of 18-24, we will be designing and creating a new American Express card that

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caters and improves the quality of a student’s lifestyle. This new product will help students
establish a relationship with American Express; encourage smart habits to improve and maintain
a good credit; assist in strengthening a rental application; learn how to earn rewards and cash
back; and prepare them for any emergencies that may come their way, post-graduation.
College students are a group with considerable discretionary income. According to
market research expert Student Monitor, there are around 16.1 million full-time college students
attending four-year schools across the United States. Their discretionary spending totals to about
$184 per month, and average annual personal earnings total more than $5,500. This markets
important reaches far beyond short-term value. Establishing a relationship with this consumer
base will have a positive effect on sales in the long run. A college education also indicates future
earning potential; on average, people with degrees make more money. College students need
everything from health products, clothing, computer hardware, electronics, etc. Building a
connection with college students early on will promote lasting relationships as card holders
(Cherkassky,
2005).
American Express is currently viewed as a credit card for the elite. Because the target
market is college students, to keep the prestigious American Express reputation we will only be
offering the Student Card to involved students with a 3.0 overall GPA. American Express would
have to position this new product as one that serves the needs of their new target market.
American Express will adopt a position that demonstrates the rewards available for students. For
a chart demonstrating American Express Student Card’s desired position, please refer to figure 7
in the appendix.

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Marketing and Advertising Expenditure Overview
According to Business Wire (2012), American Express announced that they would team
up with BrightLine in order to bring interactive commercials and improve the brand’s
positioning via 50 million household cable televisions. “The interactive TV experience will
allow viewers to explore the benefits of membership, discover what cards are right for them, play
games, find out what is new from American Express and watch original content” (Business Wire,
2012, para. 3). American Express realizes the importance of adapting to the digital age and
recognizes the necessity in spending on marketing and advertisements.
According to Rodriguez (2015), American Express has increased their advertising and
promotion expenses to 3.32 billion dollars and compared to all other credit card companies, it
budgets the most money for these types of expenses (para. 2). With marketing and advertising
seen as an investment for exposure, increasing awareness, and attracting new clients, American
Express’ marketing and promotion budgets gives them a competitive advantage as well as more
opportunities for new strategies/promotions.
Media Budget
American Express is considered one of the top spenders with their large advertising
budget that is based off of percentage of sales. Figure 8 in the appendix demonstrates the
spending that American Express has allocated in the past on their advertising budget. According
to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) who conducted a study that looked into the
dollars spent on marketing and advertising for financial products. Of the $5.5 billion spent on
advertising in the financial industry, credit card companies made up more than 40 percent of
products advertised. Breaking this down you will see that 50 percent was spent on television ads,
16 percent on newspaper ads, 15 percent on display ads, 9 percent on radio ads, 5 percent on

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magazine ads, and 5 percent on outdoor ads like billboards (Tierney, 2014). Taking this approach
we have decided to do a top down method of budgeting because it will allow American Express
to manage their advertising expenses more effectively. There will be an emphasis on percentage
of sales to decide how advertising expenditures will be allocated.
American Express’s competitor JPMorgan Chase spent over $13 million just on
advertising to students and had $23.9 billion in revenue during 2014 (Jamm, 2010). JPMorgan
Chase spent around 18 percent of their revenue on advertising in 2014. American Express saw
$35.93 billion in revenue and spent a total of $2.36 billion on total advertising. Since American
Express is branching into a new market that is already dominated by JPMorgan Chase, American
Express will have to compete with their spending in order to be seen. Based on this information,
we suggest that American Express uses the competitive parity model of budgeting. They should
allocate $15 million on advertising to college students and parents. This will result in an increase
in the budget allocated for advertising and bring American Express up to a total of $2.375 billion
which is within their means.

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Organization Objectives
Marketing Objectives:
American Express would like to continue creating marketing segments that focus on the
customer. In this case, it would be using marketing that emphasizes the needs, problems and
solutions in college students’ lives. In order to continue being a great service company,
American Express needs to properly serve their customers, communicate with them, and market
the company and product that is being offered in the places where the customers and prospective
customers can be reached. American Express wants to have the ability to anticipate the needs of
college students and at the same time look for advantages over the competition. American
Express also wants to create a level of curiosity about the culture of the company and the
services offered in order to build and maintain a relationship with the prospective customers that
will hopefully remain with American Express long after graduation. American Express will have
the following marketing objectives throughout this campaign:
 Increase American Express’s yearly revenue by 20% through the introduction of the new
Student Card.
 Increase sales volume by 20% through stimulating growth in the new Student Card
product category.
Advertising Objectives:
American Express regularly uses celebrities in order to portray the daily obstacles faced
by humans. With this new product, American Express will be using real average students that
deal with relatable college issues and needs. Our objective is to include light humor as well
maintain a personable look and feel to our new advertised product. The advertisements should
make college students curious in what American Express has to offer for them as well as the

16. 16
parents. We want the potential “student” members to feel related to our marketing campaign and
product. We want them to feel comfortable with a credit card they can build a relationship with;
encourages smart habits to improve and maintain a good credit; assists in strengthening a rental
application; learn how to earn rewards and cash-back; and prepare them for any emergencies that
may come their way. With this new Student Card, we are hoping for college students and their
parents to have an open mind when opening up a credit card account especially with the benefits
and financial tools provided by our services. Details about the product play a prominent role in
advertising for new and existing products. In fact, a very large percentage of product-oriented
advertising includes some mention of features and benefits offered. It is imperative that
American Express inform customers of changes that have taken place in their lineup of credit
cards. Throughout this campaign, American Express will attempt to meet the following
advertising objectives:
 To increase product awareness by 20% within American Express’s target market through
the association of specific features, benefits, and rewards associated with the new Student
Card within the first year.
 To make a good first impression early on with college students to allow the Student Card
to have a longer life cycle and increase new product recognition by 20% within the first
year.

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Creative Strategy
Creative Brief
Project Summary
The objective for the American Express campaign is to branch out into a new market that
consists of college students. Current attitude toward the brand is that they are seen as a high end,
professional credit card company.
Key Message
This card is for the next generation of professionals. They are able to gain rewards for the
items that college students buy (groceries, textbooks, travel, etc) especially during the tough
times. Because of this, the key message conveyed through the American Express’ Student Card
would be, “When everything seems to go wrong, American Express has your back!”
Mood and Tone (e.g. color, audio, and etc.)
Print Ad: Our color palette will include blue and white to stick with the current branding.
Because our target market is college students and American Express members who have children
at the college age, the overall tone of our brand will be light-hearted and comical, because our
audience responds to this type of media.
Video: Examples of the video ads are the American Express featuring Tina Fey, and then
Mindy Kaling. We want to continue with the same mood and tone as above. We would not want
it to stray from American Express’ prestigious image but we want to include a humor aspect.
Expected Responses
We want the potential “student” members to feel related to our marketing campaign and
product. We want them to feel comfortable with a credit card they can build a relationship with;
encourages smart habits to improve and maintain a good credit; assists in strengthening a rental

18. 18
application; learn how to earn rewards and cash-back; and prepare them for any emergencies that
may come their way. With this new product, we are hoping for college students and their parents
to have an open mind when opening up a credit card account especially with the benefits and
financial tools provided by our services.
Campaign Theme
The American Express’ Student Card campaign’s central message that will be
communicated in all advertising and promotional activities is the theme of commencing financial
stability while receiving exceptional rewards.
Media Strategy
Target Market Identification
According to eMarketer (2015), 6.24 million Spotify listeners are aged 18-24 while 15.39
million listen to Pandora radio network stations. This is great information since it gives an
insight as to what the American Express Student Card’s target market is doing. In addition,
college students spend a lot of time on social media. Chowdhry (2014) states that 45 percent and
59 percent of students use Facebook and Twitter, respectively. According to eMarketer (2015),
16 percent of Facebook and 19 percent of Twitter users in the United States are of ages 18 to 24.
Because of this, social media is an essential marketing tool for this campaign in order to promote
the new product and highlight its great benefits.
According to Brown and White Staff (2012), college students watch television as a form
of entertainment and relaxation method; however, as they get older they watch less of it as their
schedules get busier. College students tune in to watch their favorite sports, especially the
fanatics. An increasing amount of college students are turning to online streaming networks such
as Hulu which allows them to watch their favorite shows when they want and can. Therefore,

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advertising to college students via Hulu would be very efficient for American Express’ Student
Card.
Media Plan
Overview
Due to our target market being college students, the media strategy for the American
Express Student Card will be multi-faceted in order to expose our market to our new product as
much as possible. The plan would be to use multiple media outlets including; social media, web
banners, Pandora and Spotify advertisements, as well as a 30 second television commercial to be
aired on Hulu and YouTube videos. American Express will be using a combination of the
continuity, flighting and pulsing methods for the multiple media outlets used for the campaign.
Schedule
When reaching out to college students timing is everything. The beginning of a semester
is peak time to gain prospects’ attention with advertisements. Before the fall semester, during the
summer months, American Express should use the following media schedule to effectively and
efficiently target college students and their parents:
Social Media/Pandora/Spotify: The scheduling method for social media, Pandora, and
Spotify is pulsing because we want the ads to be continually maintained in order to increase
awareness for the new American Express Student Card. During the late spring, summer, early
fall, and winter break month's, advertising will be increased because those are the times when
students are home and are looking for credit cards. Every new semester will have an increase in
advertisements because we want students to increasingly notice American Express and put the
new Student Card as a contender amongst competitors.

20. 20
YouTube/Hulu: The scheduling method for YouTube and Hulu is flighting. Since
students are always on the go, showing the advertisements during summer and winter months
before and during the beginning months of each semester would be most effective. It would be a
waste of funds to use the commercials throughout the entire year since market penetration works
best when advertisements are used on a three month basis.
Face-to-Face Marketing: For this marketing method, American Express Student Card
representatives will visit multiple campuses throughout the academic year in order to
communicate directly with prospective student card holders. This would happen once for a week
per school visited.
For a graph demonstrating the American Express Student Card campaign scheduling
method with each marketing tool, please refer to figure 9 in the Appendix.
Reach and Frequency
For the reach of the American Express Student Card campaign we found all of the
numbers of users on each of the specific medias we plan to use. Granted, not all of the users for
each of the media outlets are a part of our target market but the reach will be extremely large. For
each specific media outlet the reach for the users are as follows:
Hulu: 9 million subscribers
YouTube: 1 billion active users
Social Media: 2.1 billion users
Pandora: 81.5 million users
Spotify: 24 million active users
As for the frequency of the ads distributed on these various media outlets, we suggest that
they air the Pandora and Spotify radio ad and web banner 200,000 times a year. Internet radio

21. 21
services have the technology to play the ads to our specific target market in specific area
locations, so we will leave that up to Pandora and Spotify. For the Hulu commercial
advertisements, we plan to play it 500,000 times a year; as for YouTube we plan to double that
number and have it played one million times. For the reach and frequency of our social media
advertisements, we will leave that up to the specialists and how many followers, likes and
comments we accrue over time.
Media/Production Costs
As mentioned in the media budget section, American Express will use $15 million to
reach the Student Card’s target audience. The total budgeted amount will be divided as follows:
 30% Social Media Marketing through interaction on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.
This will account for the second largest percentage of the budget because this is our
major sources for advertising. We decided to use the pulsing strategy; there will be times
where there will be an increase in spending over the summer and winter break months.
Students mainly utilize social media and this will be the perfect avenue to reach them.
o Budgeted Amount: $4,500,000.00
 15% Radio Ads and Web Banner on Spotify and Pandora. Seeing as this media is using a
flighting method, there is more room to make the budget last.
o Budgeted Amount: $2,250,000.00
 15% Commercial and Web Banner Ads on YouTube & Hulu.
o Budgeted Amount: $2,250,000.00
 40% Face-to-Face Marketing such as college tours, events and tabling. This will have to
take up majority of the budget because American Express will have to send

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representatives to campuses, pay for travel expenses, hotel fees, and promotional items.
Being on campuses will allow American Express to interact face-to-face with their target
market and allow people to sign up for cards on the spot if they wish.
o Budgeted Amount: $6,000,000.00
o Including travel and lodging for American Express representatives.
Ad Production & Commentary
Advertisement 1: Social Media (refer to figure 10 in appendix)
We recommend and created a consistent theme for the Student Card advertisement
campaign. The use of blue and white blocks of colors keeps up with the American Express color
theme. We used simple photos of textbooks with the cash back percentage nice and large to
capture consumer’s attention. College students are usually always on the go especially when they
are on social media so we wanted the ad to be simple, cut and dry, that way it does not take up to
much of their time to notice it. College students utilize social networking sites now more than
ever before. Social media usage has increased nationally by almost 1000 percent in eight years
for people between 18 and 29, according to findings from the Pew Research Center. More than
98 percent of college-aged students use social media, says consumer insight service Experian
Simmons (Griffin, 2015).
Advertisement 2: Web Banner (refer to figure 11 in the appendix)
The web banner will be the same as the social media advertisement where it shows the
image of open textbooks and the cash back percentage. We would recommend American Express
to utilize this web banner for their Spotify and Pandora ad spots. This will allow a visual to be
seen while the message will be sent through audio; it will be double-media penetration.

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Advertisement 3: Print Ad (refer to figure 12 in the appendix)
For the American Express Student Card we recommend they use a print advertisement in
two ways: sending it out in credit card statements to their extant card members with college-aged
children. The second use of print material should be during the in-person promotional marketing
on the physical college campuses. Our main target markets of college students traditionally do
not use paper to get their news or entertainment which is why the paper advertisements will not
be the main campaign strategy. For the print ad specifically we used a related and slightly
humorous line that states “Stop Eating Ramen” with a picture of a well-cooked meal under it. In
block lettering it states that the card offers 3 percent cash-back on groceries.
Advertisement 4: Billboard (refer to figure 13 in the appendix)
We recommend that American Express uses the billboard first in the test market of
Boston Massachusetts. It should be placed on major highways and close to the major campuses
and universities. The billboard will consist of the same theme and images as the social media and
print ads. We also recommend they create another advertisement that showcases the travel cash
back rewards that the card offers. This way if there are multiple billboards in relatively close
vicinity it can have the whole campaign series of all three cash-back reward offers.
Advertisement 5: Commercial (refer to figure 14 in the appendix)
For the theme of our commercial we wanted to relate it back to other American Express
ads; therefore, we went with a black and white color scale to mimic the popular Tina Fey
commercial series. We went for a “slice of life” approach where we follow a student around and
he uses his American Express Student Card to solve stereotypical college problems. This is also
cohesive with our other advertisements in this campaign. We recommend that American Express
airs this commercial on streaming networks such as; Hulu and YouTube. We believe that

24. 24
streaming networks will be more successful for this commercial because many young people use
these streaming sites over regular cable. If the viewer does not have a premium account then they
cannot skip through the ads, which makes them have to sit through it and retain at least some of
it.
30 Second TV Commercial Story-Board
(Opening Scene)
Start off with a male student waking up and hitting his alarm.
Then slowly walks into the kitchen (rubbing his eyes). Opens the refrigerator and there is
no food (visibly upset and hungry).
(Second Scene)
Male student sitting in class getting yelled at by professor to buy textbook.
Then goes to school store to buy textbook (zoom in on price tag, and then shoot up to his
face in utter shock at high price).
(Third Scene)
On the phone with mom; she’s nagging him about coming home for Christmas.
Complains that tickets are so expensive and mom then reminds him about his AmEx
Student Card. (Face of realization).
(Scene 4)
Him pushing a huge cart full of groceries (smile on his face).
Him swiping his card (over text of the rewards getting back on food).
(Scene 5)
Student carrying up a bunch of textbooks up to the register.
Swiping his card (text saying rewards on textbooks)
(Scene 6)
Sitting on his computer booking his flight for Christmas break, with his card right by his
computer (text of rewards on screen).
(Scene 7)
Shows the graphic of the student card with logo/ slogan fading in and out.
End Act.

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Evaluation Plan
In order to measure how well the campaign met the advertising and marketing objectives,
American Express will have to implement both pretest and posttest measures. This pretest will
include testing the Student Card in a test market as well as other forms of pretests including eye
tracking and pupilometrics. We recommend that American Express test both the card and the
advertisement campaigns in the city of Boston Massachusetts. Boston Massachusetts is a great
test market for this specific product because within the surrounding Boston area there are over 60
college campuses including top name universities such as: Boston University, MIT, Harvard,
Boston College and many more (Pittman, 2015). The Boston area has a wide range of campuses
in order for American Express to test the card’s success to not only Ivy League students but state
schools and university students as well. The results from the test market will be applicable to the
target market.
Social Media:
Pretest: For the pretest we suggest that American Express implement an eye tracking test where
viewers are asked to view the ad while a sensor tracks their eye movements. The ad will be
placed in a mock social media account (ie Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). From there we will
be able to see if viewers are noticing the ad and how long they are focusing on the ad for. This
will allow American Express to see if their ad is able to stand out amongst the clutter. In
addition, we suggest that American Express send out a survey through Qualtrics. This will allow
American Express to get input and understand how their brand is perceived by the test market
respondents before the campaign is implemented.
Posttest: For the posttest we suggest that American Express implement a survey that will test
brand perception. As one of the advertising objectives we want to change our target market’s

26. 26
perception of American Express from a business card to a student card as well. The survey will
be sent to the same respondents as the pretest. We want to see how their thoughts change.
Hulu/YouTube
Pretest: For the pretest we suggest that American Express utilize a theatre test where participants
will watch numerous ads and then take a survey that will measure their recall.
Posttest: For the broadcasting posttest American Express should utilize Day-After Recall test.
We want to obtain realistic data from this test. It will give American Express the opportunity to
see how their ad is performing amongst other ads. This will allow the company to get an
understanding of how the advertising objective of brand perception for the Student Card will be.

27. 27
Appendix
Figure 1
Figure 2

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Figure 3

29. 29
Figure 4
Figure 5

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Figure 6
Figure 7

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Figure 9
Figure 8

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Figure 10: Social Media

33. 33
Figure 11:Web Banner

34. 34
Figure 12: Print Ad

35. 35
Figure 13: Billboard
Figure 14: Commercial

36. 36
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