Brand Management American Express Managing Financial Services Brand Case

Q2. Evaluate American Express in terms of its competitors. How well is it

positioned? What are its points-of-parity and points-of-difference in its different
business areas? How has it changed over time? In what segments of its business
does American Express face the most competition?
A. Over the years, American Express has expanded its services including its line
of business which positions the company very well Premium - High Prestige,
Individuals and corporates (people use its credit cards to buy expensive
items). It has been around longer than its competition and its the only
company with a strong brand presence across the global payments and
commerce network with a large loyal user base. Its positioning statement
Dont Leave Home without It establishes a clearly defined point of difference
for the Brand.
The case mentions the following POPs and PODs for the Amex Brand:
POPs
International acceptability
Travelers cheques
Gold Platinum cards compared to Premier Visa cards vs Preferred
Customer MasterCard
Loyalty programs compared to affinity programs for visa
Added benefits & special offers
PODs
Excellent, Quality oriented service - earned a reputation for highest
level of customer service
Develop innovative technology and new products such as Blue
Travel services and Entertainment card
Banking and financial services
New card offerings - charge and cobranded credit cards, genuine credit
card that allowed customers to carry over monthly balance
Own money orders
Revolving credit line
High prestige status symbols
High spending marketing campaigns - twice as much as visa and
MasterCards budget combined
Insurance and purchase protection plan
The company faces sever competition from Visa and MasterCard in its Charge
and Credit Cards services business with its market share decreasing over the
years. The large transaction volumes of Visa and MasterCard also pose a
threat to the company in terms of revenues.