The Great Trust Offensive

(page 3 of 3)

Browse Issues

Browse the BusinessWeek Archive

Related Items

• Podcast: Behind the Story

Story Tools

• post a comment
• e-mail this story
• print this story
• order a reprint
• suggest a story
• digg this
• save to del.icio.us

it's really easy for consumers to check and verify a company's behavior to find out if a company's actions match its words." UBS says it has armed staff with answers to potential queries from clients and set up a section on its Web site dedicated to explaining the U.S. Justice Dept.'s tax investigation into the company.

AmEx, as a consumer brand, had little choice but to rebuild its relationship with customers. The card issuer, which traditionally has targeted a more affluent demographic, has long had an image advantage over rivals Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA). That reputation was dented when it became clear that AmEx, like everybody else, had issued cards to risky borrowers.

Chief Marketing Officer John D. Hayes invited sales executives from three groups—consumer, small business, and the merchant services, which collects transaction fees when cards are swiped—to brainstorm a campaign about trust and caring that would reach all of their customers at once. The insight: Many of AmEx's merchant clients were small businesses. And average cardholders feel good about patronizing small businesses. That led to the television campaign.

At the end of the commercials, viewers are invited to visit Openforum.com, an AmEx Web site that provides tips for small businesses. AmEx is also co-sponsoring NBC Universal's "Shine a Light," a contest in which people send in stories about their favorite neighborhood business. The winning business gets $100,000 in marketing support. AmEx spokesperson Ellen DeGeneres promoted it and twittered about it, reaching her 3 million-plus followers. "There are a lot of people concerned about what's happening to these storefronts," says Hayes. "We're not only saying we serve those people, it's demonstrating we've got their best interest in mind."

Will the trust offensive work? Image counselors caution executives to stay relevant to the current mood or risk being seen as spin merchants. "The AmEx ads should resonate because merchants, especially during a recession, want some form of acknowledgement that they are the economy's engine, not cultural villains," says crisis management consultant Eric Dezenhall. But he warns: "Trust-related marketing only works if there is a message that people want to believe in. You cannot spin an audience that doesn't want to be spun."

Return to 100 Best Brands Table of Contents

Kiley is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Detroit bureau. Helm is marketing editor for BusinessWeek in New York.

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.