Last year, American Express did a photo shoot featuring me and David at our headquarters in Boston. The purpose of the photo shoot was to produce material for AmEx's various marketing campaigns featuring customers (they've done spots with PinkBerry, MusicDirect, and Jerry Seinfeld among others). Since we didn't know where and when they'd use the photos, it was interesting to get an email last week from a friend who attended an art exhibit and just happened to spot an AmEx information booth featuring some of the pieces from the photo shoot.
AmEx's practice of shining a spotlight on interesting customers is a bright idea. Regardless of where the pictures end up - in a campaign for either AmEx business or consumer credit cards - their presence gives each campaign life, and creates unique brand stories in a subtle way. It also strengthens the relationship with the customer/client, which then gets AmEx even more press (case in point, this post).
GotVMail has a program similar to AmEx's, called Tell Us Your Story. Through the program, customers tell us about themselves and their businesses. We then try to either feature them in our marketing initiatives or match them to reporters seeking interesting stories. So far, we've gotten some great coverage for our customers, including: SmallCellars.com, featured in PC Magazine; Babysitters.com, picked up by the Associated Press; and Small Business Majority on BusinessWeek.com.
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