• by Karl Greenberg , July 12, 2010

American Express is launching a new campaign for its Open business suite for small business.

The effort features small-business owners at work and includes the tag "Start Booming." A raft of TV spots show montages of people at work to tout Amex's suite of online products for doing things like making payments and getting insurance quotes.

The launch spot, "Reveille," shows a day in the life of several small-business entrepreneurs including a custom-motorcycle maker, a New York City shop owner, a furniture maker, pottery maker, farmer, and an architect. The ad is set to a trumpet playing reveille, first in a traditional fashion, then as a jazz vamp. A voiceover says: "Reviving the economy means reinventing the way we do business...here's to the owners showing us the way."

In addition to TV, the campaign includes print and online elements. The company says it will roll out the campaign in three phases with the second phase later this summer, with creative showcasing specific business owners and what they are doing to be successful.

Julie Fajgenbaum, VP at American Express Open, says the company chose the businesses featured in the campaign because they "demonstrate an array of innovative business practices that include getting the most out of every dollar spent, knowing how to find new customers, growing their networks, building great places to work, giving back to their communities, getting noticed and doing more business."

The company's products that are getting the spotlight in the campaign include AcceptPay, InsuranceEdge, FX International Payments and SearchManager.

A website, Open.com, also features a roster of Amex cardmember companies and what they are doing to stay afloat partly by using Open products, including someone who uses AcceptPay for e-commerce and digital invoicing; a dentist in Colorado who uses InsuranceEdge to save money on her coverage; and a remodeler in Virginia who makes materials purchases via Gold Card and uses Membership Rewards points to build homes for needy families.