The need

Back in 2002, not long after the dreadful September 11 terrorist attacks, when the travel industry was suffering dramatically, American Express wanted to ensure that the customers who purchase AMEX travel insurance kept coming back and felt rewarded for their choice. In line with the company’s projected image, they were keen to provide something that would assist travellers (notably their customers) during their journeys abroad.

Our advice

We suggested that a branded gift from Lonely Planet could be just the trick - something light enough to mail, yet extremely useful while travelling.

The solution

We decided to “re-jacket” Lonely Planet’s famous European phrasebook in American Express livery as a gift with the purchase of travel insurance. As required, it was sufficiently light to mail to existing customers with their insurance documents and would also prove incredibly useful on the road. We knew that customers would keep this gift beyond just their next European trip so it would become a regular reminder of the insurance services provided by American Express over time.

Results

At the time, American Express wrote the following endorsement when reporting on this campaign’s success:

“I am happy to say that I think the Lonely Planet phrasebook insertion had a significant uplift on our retention figures. We even had phone calls into the call centre thanking us for the gift … which is unheard of! Figures indicate we are 6% up on Feb 2002 and 5% up on March 2002, which given our troubled times in the travel industry is very positive news.”

Julie H Carroll, American Express