American Express Social Currency
I love what American Express is doing. The brand's Membership Rewards program has been around probably almost as long as Frequent Flyer Miles. I personally have participated in the program year after year after year -- in fact I have about 100,000 points racked up again to be "spent."
In a truly integrated fashion, American Express is now re-inventing how we interact with the Membership Rewards program through social media.
Re-dubbed Social Currency, American Express is encouraging card members to share how they use their points by posting their stories on social media. It's a unique way to encourage people to earn points by showing inspirational stories of how other people have bought merchandise or had cool experiences.
I even sent in a tweet about how I used my points to send my family to Hawaii to celebrate my son's 10th birthday!
There's also an American Express Social Currency app fueled by foursquare that allows users to check in to retail locations and tag the items they would like to purchase (or have already purchased) -- and then share that with friends. I guess the idea is that if you save up enough points, you can buy the item using Social Currency.
The brand is staying fresh by using social media to re-tool an existing brand asset and then integrating social media throughout their marketing plan including television advertising, website, digital marketing, and even retail.
Using social media to transform a brand.
What's your experience? Jim.