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American Express is ending its B2B year as it began: making big moves for small businesses.
The last quarter has received special attention from Amex since 2010, when it launched Small Business Saturday as a counter to big-box Black Friday shopping. For this year’s 14th installment, it introduced the Door to Shop Small augmented reality experience that led customers to shopping districts and handed $5 statement credits to cardholders who spent $50 or more at stores on The Shop Small Map.
This October, in addition to its third-annual Member Week that drove cardholders to Amex partners with special offers, American Express launched its revamped Business Gold Card with a pair of 30-second spots from partners Dentsu Creative, Caviar LA, Twentyfour Seven and Work Editorial.
Depicting fictional business owners using the card’s 4X membership rewards, statement credits and other benefits, the ads supplemented a Raise the Bar with Business Gold pop-up in New York with offerings from local businesses and an appearance by Vanessa Hudgens.
Amex gave Business Gold holders membership to Walmart+, wireless protection and more flexibility in where they could spend and earn their business credits. To Jeff Rauch, executive vice president of B2B marketing and analytics at American Express, it’s just routine maintenance.
“We wanted to continue to modernize and meet more needs to continue to appeal to customers,” Rauch told Adweek. “You can’t leave anything on the shelf for too long.”
But all of those end-of-year tweaks were part of a continued effort by American Express to not just help small businesses along with marketing, but to give them the financial, technological and educational tools they need to thrive. Rauch noted that the pandemic helped engender new types of small businesses, with traditional brick-and-mortar shops existing alongside digital merchants specializing in bespoke products or services.
“The landscape has changed quite a bit,” Rauch said. “We’re not always just trying to put in new products and services. It’s really about helping business owners learn, educate and make good decisions.”
Under one roof
Going into this year, American Express offered small business partners The Shop Small Resource Hub and other marketing materials to help boost business. It also put together its Business Class content platform with articles offering advice on how to create better spaces for neurodiverse customers, whether to open a storefront or go strictly online, and what to expect in the new year.