186 CHAPTER 8 COMMUNICATINGTOMASSMARKETS
AmericanExpresscard(theheartofthecompany'sbusiness)rangapnearly$80billion
inpurchases innearly 60 millionseparatetransactions, makingitthecardmostusedby
Americans.
MuchofthecreditforsuccessmustgotoJJemannerinwhichAmericanExpress
hastakenbig ideasandconvertedthemintomajormarketingprograms.Theprocess
beginswith"thehunt."Bigideascanbefoundanywhere,byanyone-andeverybody
keepsan eyepeeled.The"InterestingLives"idea,forexample,wasburieddeepin the
copyofa new"women's"adcampaign,developedbytheiragencyOgilvy andMather.
Sincethecampaignbeganin1983,thenumberofnewcardmemberswhoare;women
hasjumpedfrom29%tomorethan50%.Moreover,nmesWalsh,"Bigideasmakeus
unstoppablebecausetheytakethehighground.There'snowaytocounteractbig ideas
withoutimitatingthem."
AmericanExpresshasa veryunstnicturedcorporateenvironment.Consequently,
everybigideaneedsa "champion"-someonewhocanchargeaheadwiththebigidea
witha minimumofrestraint.Champions arealloweda freereinbecausemanagement
truststheirtoppeople.Failure'snobigdealat AmericanExpress.Marketing research
doesn'tdrivethebusiness-instinctdoes.
Sincetherearealwaysfourorfivebigideascompetingagainsteachother,"bat-
tles"areinevitable.InthecaseoftheAmericanSxpressPlatinumCard,thefightswere
particularlybrutal.Inmeetingafterheatedmeeting,opposingsidesbattledoverthe
name,theprice, thelookofthecard, etc.Thechampionofeachideaopenlybattledeach
other.Therearesomemles,though.Noone attacksanyonepersonally. Everyone's
friends theminute thebattleis over.Andabsolutelynopolitics.
Inthe end,Walsh'sideamaynot win.Hisbigideahassomeformidablefoeswho
think itis simply toosoftofa sell.Walshis farfromdefeat.He'sconstantlydrumming
upsupportandmakingsubtlechangesintheadsthemselves.Evenifhisideaisn't
selectedthistime,hewon'tstopfighting."Myideamayretirebriefly,butit won'tdie.
We'llchangeit a littlehere,a littlethere,and,beforeyouknowit,it'llbereincarnated,"
saysWalsh."Youdon'twinbywimpingout."
Sources:MarkPadden. " Amex's BlueCardNeedsMore ThanGoodLooks 10 Succeed,"FutureBankRr.KovemberI. 19 99.
p. 52 : "AdvancedCards101:WhatMakesThemSoSmartandSoSecure?"CanadianBusiness,August7.2000,p.15;"Magic
PromotesAmexBlueBusinessCard,"BusinessandInduslry,Vol. 2000 , No. 95 , May 17 , 2000,p.1; Michael Dumiak, "Adver·
tis ingCampaigns:AmexUnrivaledin AdvenisingSpending,"FinancialServiceMarketing.Vol.2."'0.4,May 15 , 2000.p.8.
Introduction
Thecaseexampleclearlypointstooneofthemostdifficultproblemsfacingmarketers.How
cana marketerclearlyandeffectively communicatethestory(message)ina societythatis
soovercommunicatedthatthetypicalconsumerisbothoverwhelmedwiththevastnum-
berofmessagesandannoyedatthethousandsofmessagesthathavenorelevancewhat-
soevertothatperson'sneedsandwants?Theamountofsameness, andthe amountof
communicationclutteris soexcessive,thattheapproachemployedbyAmericanExpress
appearstobetheonlyanswer.Yet,aswehavenotedthroughoutthistext,theneedsand
capabilitiesofmarketersvary,andnotallmarketersareblessedwitha creativegenius like
