If you're a yuppie, chances are you already own, like, your third or fourth cell phone, a ton of computer stuff, and a pretty cool car. You probably think that conventional credit card rewards - points for this, points for that - are, like, sooooo boring.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to the rescue. The Aventura Gold Visa card it introduced Wednesday promises the type of sybaritic pleasures that even the most overprivileged and jaded consumer could appreciate - from a trip down the Calgary Olympic bobsled course (alongside an expert) to a private wine tour with cooking lessons in Tuscany (you supply the Italian lessons), to a chance to fly a MiG-25 supersonic interceptor (with some supervision, of course).
Only Canadians need apply.
Yes, it's a big gimmick - consider the fact that CIBC is promoting the card in front of its Toronto headquarters with free massages, a mini-driving range, and samples of virgin cocktails. But it seems to speak to the state of competition in the credit card market, in which issuers are constantly searching for something new.
So, apparently, are consumers, particularly the childless, ennui-driven 20- and 30-somethings who make over $35,000 and whom CIBC aims to attract. The bank's market research indicated that people in this crowd needs big thrills to keep them, um, psyched.
"They want something individualized and different and unusual," explained Ernie Johannson, a vice president of marketing and business development at CIBC's card products division, in a telephone interview Wednesday. In a press release, she is quoted saying that the Aventura Gold Visa "gives customers the best selection of experiential lifestyle and travel rewards."
There are more mundane prizes - backstage passes, tickets to movie screenings - but the big-deal rewards cost a lot of points: 5.7 million will get you a guided diving tour of the Titanic, 230,000 win a trip to Pamplona to run with the bulls, and a weekend Jaguar rental costs 85,000 points. Piloting the MIG requires 1.7 million.
The card comes with a $120 annual fee, which Ms. Johannson said is a typical one for reward cards in Canada. Both the fee and the high point goals are meant as customer-retention tools.
To capture the apparently short attention span of this hard-to-impress demographic, CIBC sent a guy dressed in scuba gear to ride Toronto commuter trains and hand out invitations to the product's press launch. Elsewhere in the city, a guy dressed in a tuxedo who was fishing in a public fountain did the same, as did a couple eating a fancy dinner at a table set up in a busy public square. (American Express Co. staged similarly absurd stunts in New York when it introduced its Blue card in 1999.)
Even so, only a few of the curious showed up, Ms. Johannson said, though quite a few reporters came for the freebies.
A market researcher who claims to specialize in the murky art of spotting new trends said that CIBC is probably on to something with the Aventura card.
"Twenty- and 30-year-olds are delaying marriage and children and buying a home, and have more money freed up for fun," said Shirley Roberts, the president of Market Driven Solutions Inc., a Toronto market research firm and the author of a book on habits of the future. "They do three things at once."
She said people of that generation will respond to a product that seems tailored to their interests, because they feel their needs are different from everyone else's. "It is hard to keep them for a long period" as customers, she said.
For cardholders who - by choice or otherwise - assume adult responsibilities, there are even some practical rewards attached to the Aventura card. They can choose from three categories - "lifestyle" rewards, airline travel rewards, and flexible travel rewards - and two of the categories include such mundane prizes as airline tickets, hotel visits, and restaurant meals.
CIBC already issues a cobranded card with Air Canada's Aeroplan frequent-flier program, and Aventura customers will be able to transfer their points to that program. This may be a defensive move, given that the bankruptcy court overseeing Air Canada's reorganization recently awarded a separate card contract to American Express, which will soon issue a product that will compete with CIBC's air-miles card.
CIBC, which is Canada's largest credit card issuer, opted against the platinum designation for Aventura, Ms. Johannson said, because it was so common that it had lost its prestige.
"Monolines have destroyed what 'platinum' meant in the marketplace," she said. "MasterCard has come out with no-fee platinum cards, which has brought down the category. Gold has more prestige."
Though the card is called gold, it is actually black, with just a few gold touches. American Express issues a black card, called the Centurion, that is offered by invitation only.
