My Life. My Soul. My Card (AmEx Emotional Branding)

This post is by Michael Pollock, the original owner of Small Business Branding. Yaro Starak now owns and produces the latest content for this blog.

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I love Manhattan. So rich in heritage. So deep in spirit. So alive with energy. A more complete, more artistic, more soulful rendition of humanity’s full potential has not yet been created in any form. In fact, Timothy "Speed" Levitch, in his literary tour of NYC, Speedology: Speed on New York on Speed, said it even better when he wrote:

"We are not visitors, tourists, nor inhabitants of New York City; we are New York City. The city is our moving self-portrait and a living art installation carved out of an island of rock, even the cracks in the sidewalk are crying out on the topic of our lives."

By the way, if you’ve never visited, and especially if you have, you’d enjoy Levitch’s version.

Anyway, the area known as TriBeCa, which stands for Triangle Below Canal Street, is the long-time home of Robert Deniro (check Little Views on New York City for a brief synopsis of his love affair with little plot of real estate). So identified has this brilliantly, passionate actor become with this area of the city that American Express began airing a rather dramatic commercial recently that totally captivates me each time I see it.

And the point, aside from my love of Deniro, The City and the commercial, is the impact on the AmEx brand. I don’t carry AmEx, but now I want to. I can only imagine many who do carry AmEx – upon watching the commercial – will be proud they do. Master Card, Visa: huh, cheap, meaningless pieces of plastic. AmEx: my life, my soul, my card (I added the my soul part, but that their tagline).

The question every small business owner needs to wonder is: "What deep emotional chord can I strike in my clients and prospects, and how do I reach in to touch that chord over and over again?"