JPMorgan Chase & Co’s Sapphire credit card will be a presenting sponsor of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for the second year in a row with a few new twists, a move one analyst says may bring the affluent-targeted card brand closer to its core audience.
Chase says the event is a prime example of its strategy to align the Sapphire brand with unique opportunities and events that play on its cardholder base’s “passion points,” which it defines as cultural, travel, sports and dining, Jennifer McGarry, marketing director for Chase Sapphire, tells PaymentsSource.
Chase Sapphire is offering 40 different experiential rewards packages in association with the film festival, which include hotel stays, screenings, premiere events, dining and transportation options, among other perks. Cardholders may participate in the full event as well as first and second weekends surrounding it.
Some weekend packages cost up to $3,500 or 350,000 Ultimate Rewards points. “We did increase the number of packages [from last year] and we took cardmember feedback to develop them,” McGarry says.
Cardholders can buy event packages now with their card or with points for the festival, which takes place in Park City, Utah, Jan. 19- 29.
Chase Sapphire also is setting up a three-level retail storefront on Main Street in Park City to showcase the Sapphire credit card and its benefits, says McGarry. But the storefront is not for acquisition purposes, she says, noting that “it’s really more what Chase Sapphire is about and [how it relates to] the experiences cardholders can get at the film fest.”
Chase is touting the Sundance event via direct mail and email, McGarry says.
One analyst says the type of experiential rewards Chase has devised for its Sapphire customers are not designed for acquisition purposes but rather are incorporated to pique the interest of a card program’s best customers.
“This effort encourages Chase Sapphire’s very best customers to associate the card with another premium brand,” says Megan Bramlette, director at Auriemma Consulting Group. “Sapphire gets to use the partnership to convey and re-emphasize the message that the card will give cardholders access to these special events,” and highlight the benefits of the card for other experiences if they happen to be more interested in sports or dining.
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