American Express Co. is awaiting a patent for its Diverse Marketplace Intelligence analytical system that it designed to help identify and target cultural groups for marketing opportunities.
The system harnesses the many components at AmEx’s disposal, including information about its cardholder-spending patterns, Kerrie Peraino, AmEx chief diversity officer, tells PaymentsSource. AmEx did not provide further details on the system.
An example of how the Diverse Marketplace system helped AmEx identify a new cultural group is when the company began supporting the Stonewall Wall Equality Walk in Brighton, England. The system identified an opportunity to market to the local gay community and eventually led to AmEx sponsoring the annual summer event, which commemorates standing up to gay bullying.
For its efforts, AmEx not only sponsored the walk but also blanketed Brighton businesses with posters promoting the event and was able to sign up new merchants to accept its cards.
“We struck a chord with the community,” Peraino says. “Rather than just focus on AmEx being accepted in Brighton, the effort really focused on how important the walk is to the community.”
One potential benefit of this type of marketing is loyalty, Dennis Moroney, director of research for bank cards at TowerGroup, tells PaymentsSource. As AmEx found with its support of the Wall Equality Walk, groups often will remain loyal to a brand if they feel it supports their community.
“Once you penetrate those markets you find a great loyalty, including less sensitivity to pricing. So attrition is less of an issue,” Moroney says.
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