Credit Card Tv Commercials

PRIMETIME NETWORK SPENDING IN 2000 $359.8 million

HOT BUTTONS Networks rejoice! Credit card companies are ready to spend. Visa has the Olympics. American Express has Jerry. And MasterCard has a new chip in the works.

Depending on whom you ask, "chip cards" either make transactions more versatile and efficient, or they're just an old-fashioned marketing ploy. Whichever, credit card marketers remain focused on using new technology to keep the pump primed, and the major players will be devoting a prominent share of their advertising and marketing efforts to the high-tech cards.

American Express will maintain momentum in support of its Blue, which has accrued the natural benefits of being the first chip card out of the gate (it's estimated that Amex has issued 4 million Blue cards). Visa and MasterCard, at both the brand association and bank issuer levels, are playing catch-up.

The advantage of the chip card is currently limited to eliminating the need for a signature and helping to track loyalty programs like frequent flier mileage. Down the road, the card is expected to have more varied retail uses, like storing data about the owner's prescription drugs, which can then be accessed at a pharmacy.

"The Blue card has been a pure brand play because there is no real advance in functionality," says Michael Auriemma, president of Auriemma Consulting in Westbury, N.Y. "But because it's cool and new, it got younger people involved."

Visa, which launched its chip card at the Sydney Olympics last fall, will continue to support the initiative quite vigorously in 2001. Its message will focus on educating consumers about the chip's "potential." Don't be surprised to see Visa issuers touting the value of chip cards for tracking and maintaining loyalty programs with customers.

Overall, Visa is expected to sustain its current advertising spending levels for 2001, with a significant push behind the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company spent roughly $320 million behind all its ad efforts last year under the umbrella of the enduring "It's Everywhere You Want to Be" campaign, according to Competitive Media Reporting.

American Express is continuing its successful relationship with Jerry Seinfeld, with a new pool of funny commercials that debuted during the Oscars. Last year, Amex leveraged the megawatt popularity of Tiger Woods for a new branding TV spot as part of its "Do More" campaign.

MasterCard last year eclipsed Amex in ad spending, becoming No. 2 in the category with $215 million behind its efforts, according to CMR. The company is developing its own chip card and predicts that about 3 million of them will roll out by the end of the year. MasterCard's "Priceless" campaign will continue purring along.

Discover will amp up its acquisition efforts this year on the wings of its positioning theme "For the slightly smarter consumer," which is being trumpeted in an engaging new campaign from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Discover increased its total ad spending by more than a third last year, ponying up $127 million.

On the regulatory front, the industry will be paying close attention to the Justice Department's antitrust proceeding against Visa and MasterCard. Justice has accused the companies of ganging up on American Express. The department's goal is to spur an evolution away from duality, whereby more bank issuers will tilt toward endorsing either MasterCard or Visa. Also looming on the horizon is a hearing in a class action suit against Visa and MasterCard by retailers including WalMart and the Limited. In the case, the retailers accuse the credit card companies of charging unfairly high acceptance fees for debit cards.

The credit card companies may have some headaches, but the recession is not among them. "We are an economy-proof business," says Jim Accomando, former MasterCard marketing executive and now head of Accomando Consulting, based in Fairfield, Conn. "In good times, consumers do more impulsive spending as they live beyond their means. In bad times, they absolutely depend on their credit cards."

COPYRIGHT 2001 BPI Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group

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