• WSJ, Thursday, December 1, 2005 11:33 AM

American Express is going after the wedding/newlywed crowd with two new cards called, appropriately, "The Knot" and "The Nest." It's an extension of the financial services marketer's strategy to target niche groups such as young urban singles or the super-rich (the Amex black card). The new cards offer discounts and special deals for people planning weddings and setting up homes for the first time. The Knot Inc., a New York media company that is known for its wedding-planning Web site, has partnered with Amex on the cards, which don't carry an annual fee. Part of the strategy is to capture customers at a relatively young age and move them toward other cards as they get older. "Card issuers missed the boat on a lot of affinity groups, and now they are rushing to get on the bandwagon by trying to make their cards stand out among the millions that are out there," says Gail Sneed, director of professional services at Maritz Inc., a St. Louis market-research firm.

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