
American Express on Monday introduced "Amex
Ads," a digital advertising platform designed by the financial company to connect brands with its more than 34 million U.S. consumer cardmembers using the company's first-party data and
sophisticated measurement tools.
The company's technology platform, which supports global payments and lifestyle brands, will enable the financial company to deliver targeted brand messages to
consumers who engage on its platforms, and its measurement tools will tie the ad exposure to online and offline sales.
The goal is to help brands remove the guesswork of measurement by
enabling better return on ad spend (ROI).
Piloted earlier this year, for the platform American Express worked with Marriott Bonvoy, Macy’s and Tumi to develop campaigns that reached
targeted cardmembers with contextual ads as they booked travel on AmexTravel.com.
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For example, Marriott Bonvoy used Amex Ads to reach and convert American Express cardmembers who had booked a
flight on AmexTravel.com, but had not booked a hotel. Marriott achieved a 300% return on investment increase compared with its target benchmark, according to American Express.
Amex Ads helped
Tumi drive sales by reaching cardmembers during and after booking travel using ads on AmexTravel.com.
The ads were sent via a post-booking email from Amex Travel. The company released results
that highlighted consumer purchases that were 30% higher than Tumi's target benchmark.
Jill Krizelman, senior vice president of global marketing and ecommerce at Tumi, pointed to the precision
of the targeted campaign that allowed the company to reach new millennial and Gen Z consumers.
Amex Ads will initially become available on AmexTravel.com, but a company executive said the ad
service will eventually move to additional Amex-owned platforms.
It builds off a service the company has been developing for more than a decade, which leverages its unique position as a
financial services and lifestyle brand to help merchants connect with cardmembers via Amex Offers.
In 2024, the Amex Offers program drove $15 billion in spend globally, inclusive of $13
billion in spend in the U.S. with merchants who accept American Express. As a trusted financial institution, the brand provides support to its customers when problems arise.
Amex Ads offers a growing suite of digital media ad formats, backed by
sophisticated measurement tools and insights generated by American Express’ extensive first-party data, gleaned from a 360-degree view of online and offline cardmember spend -- not only through
its own cards, but with partner cards like Delta Air Lines, and Marriott Bonvoy.
The ad service is also expected to
support American Express' work with Google. In September, the companies announced a new way for AI agents to transact payments on behalf of users and across platforms.
The collaboration took
place with more than 60 industry partners committing to advancing agentic commerce in time for the holidays, including Amex.
Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), developed by Google
engineers, will provide the foundation to enable AI agents to transact payments on behalf of users and merchants. The protocol creates a common language for agents to transact across
platforms.
In addition to American Express, other financial institutions participating in Google's AP2 rollout include Mastercard, fintech companies Revolut, Coinbase, and Paypal, with
merchants and SaaS companies including Etsy as well as Salesforce and Intuit.