‘Project ‘Buddy’ runner up for Best internal marketing campaign for American Express

American Express (Amex) wanted to ensure that all 700 employees of Global Commercial Card (GCC), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) felt that their views were recognised and valued to increase their levels of engagement in the company. It aimed to provide answers to questions raised in an employee conference earlier in the year, and to maintain a constant two-way flow of information.

Amex also needed an innovative communication tool to develop key points to the sales and account development community on the new Platinum Card which would come directly from Brendan Walsh, EMEA’s senior president.

The audience included many European nationalities and an array of job functions. Amex also  hoped to create a viral effect that would take the communication across business units and the globe.

Communication needed to be entertaining and serious. It also needed a safe, anonymous channel for employees to put awkward questions to management. So, to address these, three fictional employees – Gertrude, Roger and Serge – were created to represent the employee voice.

Animated characters
For communication to be engaging, innovative and easy to digest, film was chosen as the best media and a five-minute video-cast was hosted on the intranet and emailed to employees.

The internal communications budget was very limited but Bright Light’s involvement from the concept stage enabled three animated videos, newsletters and other activity to be produced within budget.

The video was viewed by 63 per cent of GCC employees, mostly on the day it was dispatched. It was still being viewed for the two weeks following the email, indicating that employees went back to the email to look at the video at a later date, with some employees viewing the video multiple times.

“In the past two years, the team have transformed and internal communication from ad-hoc emails into a strategic approach aimed at engaging employees and motivating them to deliver,” says Brendan Walsh, and adds: “The feedback I have received both from within the business unit and from other areas of the company has been overwhelmingly postive. Through a smart execution the team have raised the bar and set new standards for internal communications.”

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