The capitalization and exploitation of their own data by companies directly or indirectly linked to commerce is leading to the development of their own advertising platforms in the so-called “commerce media”. Mastercard recently announced its own ecosystem, as did American Express, with the intention of connecting the brands with their more than 34 million cardholders in the United States.
As the company noted this week in a statement, its new advertising platform, called Amex Ads, takes advantage of American Express’ digital platforms to give advertisers the possibility of impacting consumers at relevant and high-intent moments.
The platform will begin rolling out on AmexTravel.com and will later expand to other Amex-owned contexts.
Amex Ads will offer relevant and contextual ads at the moment of high intent
According to him, Amex Ads will allow brands to connect with cardholders through a growing range of advertising formats and relevant and contextual ads at the times when users are most likely to interact, buy and spend. It ensures that the platform is based on valuable information generated by American Express’ extensive own information, obtained from a comprehensive view of the online and offline spending of the holders.
The platform is built on company data obtained through the American Express Membership loyalty program and the Amex Offers program, which offers deals and rewards to cardholders for their purchases at partner brands and merchants.
American Express notes that Amex Offers generated $15 billion in transactions globally.
The company points out that when developing Amex Ads, it has focused on providing the platform with robust measurement tools that help brands determine the return on their advertising investment at a time when “Every dollar invested in marketing must perform at its maximum to generate value”.
In the presentation of Amex Ads, American Express has indicated that the initiative implies benefits for consumers, since it will mean an improvement in their membership by providing them with relevant advertising content at key moments when they explore and use the platform.
On the other hand, the company has assured that it has focused on the security and privacy of the brand and that the platform has protection mechanisms to guarantee the correct development of the strategies. It also works closely with its advertising partners to build authenticated audiences and identify opportunities to drive value and optimize campaigns.
American Express piloted Amex Ads earlier this year with brands including Marriott Bonvoy, Macy’s and Tumi to develop travel booking campaigns with AmexTravel.com. Thus, according to it, Marriott Bonvoy used Amex Ads to reach American Express cardholders who had booked a flight on AmexTravel.com but had not booked a hotel. He claims that he achieved results three times higher than his initial goal.
American Express joins the financial institution Chase and Mastercard in the “commerce media” trend, with which companies seek to generate new sources of income by exploiting their first-party data.
This is a strategy similar to that promoted by Amazon, Target or Walmart and which has led to the consolidation of “retail media”; or that followed by delivery services such as Uber, DoorDash or Instacart, which also offer advertising solutions based on their own data.
