ZYNC is a charge card that American Express launched last year. The target demographic is younger adults and teens (you can read more details about ZYNC in this article). The thing about younger target audiences is that it’s hard for established/traditional (read: older) companies to find a way to connect with them through the right channels and with the right message.
Last month, The National played a concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It was at least partially sponsored by American Express in promotion for the ZYNC card. Since the concert was to benefit AIDS, YouTube and VEVO live-streamed the entire set of The National. There was a general atmosphere of altruism at the show and AMEX definitely played a part in it.
Fans of The National are generally young, skewing a bit hipster. Therefore, it was a great opportunity to promote a charge card aimed at young people who have enough expendable income to pay for concerts. In addition to having the AMEX and ZYNC logos plastered everywhere, there were also people handing out business-sized cards with a download code to get a free MP3 and Video download from the show. On the back of this card was a picture of the AMEX ZYNC card.
AMEX ZYNC Promotional materials from The National show at BAM
I went to the website listed and entered my code and e-mail address. I received a confirmation e-mail with AMEX branding and then promptly forgot all about it.
A little less than a month later, I got the following e-mail:
What a great promotional campaign. American Express really did their homework and I give them an A for hitting all the marks.
A picture I took of The National performing at BAM in Brooklyn
And here’s a video I recorded of The National performing “Fake Empire” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music from May 15, 2010.