EXCLUSIVE: Crowd-sourcing is all the rage right? Must be, because corporate behemoth American Express is about to embark on a social competition which will give the winner the chance to create its creative assets.
American Express will launch a campaign on Monday 22 April aimed at Gen X and Gen Y people who fancy themselves the creative type. The company is searching for crowd-sourced designs for its point-of-purchase materials. The campaign is one of the biggest social campaigns American Express will run in Australia this year.
The competition will run across three phases – entry, internal judging and public voting – and has enlisted the expertise of 2012 Archibald winner Tim Storrier. Storrier will sit on the internal judging panel which will determine which entries will progress to the public vote.
There is also $5,000 prize money up for grabs for the winner.
The majority of the campaign budget will be spent on media buy across Gen X and Gen Y-targeted media across print, digital and social media. There are also direct marketing components which will target design and art schools such as UNSW's College of Fine Arts.
So why point-of-purchase? American Express' research suggested merchants and retailers are more likely to display 'iconic' point-of-purchase materials than standard materials. In turn, American Express cardmembers are more likely to spend money in-store if point-of-purchase advertising for American Express is prominently displayed.
The brand is also banking on the promotion to increase emotional connections with the brand. In fact, the campaign to encourage entries is designed to play on Gen X and Gen Y's penchant for authenticity and individuality.
“Eye catching and effective point-of-purchase material is a key business driver for our merchants and an influencer as to where our cardmembers will spend,” said American Express vice president, Global Merchant Services ANZ Geoff Begg.
“Opening a campaign to the general public and allowing consumers to create point of purchase material will further link our merchants and cardmembers together, ultimately driving higher spend levels across the American Express Network.”
The campaign will launch on Monday and entries can be submitted through www.amexpicturethis.com.au. The link will be live at 9am on 22 April. Phase one, or the entry phase, will run from 22 April until 10th May. Public voting will start on 27 May until 7 June, after the internal judging.
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