Chicago Bulls x American Express
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Brand Sponsorship
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
The Chicago Bulls are better when you’re #withAmex. Together with American Express, the United Center and the Bulls provide unique, relevant, enviable benefits to Amex card members that are visible to prospects on-site and amplified to prospects nationwide.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
The Bulls x Amex partnership remains a marquee partnership for both parties because the Bulls understand the Amex brand inside and out and carefully curating our activations to the cross section of our brands. The partnership is not rooted in signage or media. Instead, we focus on creating new, innovative, unique, and premium platforms built for specific engagements with an intentional fan segment. Anyone can put on a postgame concert, but it only moves the needle towards marketing objectives when it is visually represents both brands and draws the right audience.
This same principle applies to everything the Bulls do with Amex. Together, a league mandated practice open to the public becomes a Behind the Scenes exclusive experience rewarding Bulls and Amex’s most loyal fans and cardmembers. A shared value of evolving customer experience comes to life through an AmEx gate, concession discounts, and exclusive access to tickets and experiences. A sweepstakes becomes Bulls Drops, amplifying coveted Bulls merchandise and enviable Amex access worldwide.
The Bulls and Amex partnership is a case study in developing experiences that could only be Amex x Bulls, and consistently raising the bar for what’s cool while measurably turning fans into brand advocates.
Objective
Life is better when you’re #withAmex. That means driving brand love and advocacy with Amex cardmembers and gen-z and millennial prospects to increase their likelihood to consider Amex when looking for a credit card. Amex partners with sports properties and venues in priority markets to make that north star a reality—the United Center and Chicago Bulls are better when you’re #withAmex.
Together with American Express, the United Center and the Bulls provide unique, relevant, enviable benefits to Amex card members that are visible to prospects on-site and amplified to prospects nationwide. The Bulls have partnered with Amex to do this for nearly fifteen years, and still remain a best practice partnership for Amex across all of professional sports. This is due to the Bulls and the United Center’s strength, reach, and demand in a must-win market, but further, the Bulls ability to excel in key consideration driving experiences that are culturally relevant, differentiated, and innovative going above and beyond in Amex’s team and venue strategy:
- Amex gets you to the excitement faster
- Amex gets you special access
- Amex give you more values
- Amex gives you unexpected delights
Strategy & Execution
A Bulls partner since 2010, AmEx initially aimed to leverage consumer passion points to create enviable experiences for cardmembers and drive brand awareness. As the financial market changed, Amex’s objectives focused in on curated benefits and experiences that are always-on for cardmembers, and intermittent for prospects to drive awareness not for the brand, but for the differentiated suite of benefits Amex provides.
To innovate with Amex as they grow, the Bulls bring together experts from different disciplines to brainstorm what would uniquely benefit our fans and accomplish partner goals. This “agency approach” has allowed us to turn Amex’s contractual assets into impactful platforms and campaigns that support both AmEx and Bulls marketing objectives. One example being Amex season ticketholder family fest, which no longer reached the right demographic or enviable experience the Bulls or Amex were looking for, so we evolved to the AmEx Behind-the-Scenes Experience, allowing 50 fans, cardmembers, and season ticket holders an exclusive viewing of Bulls practice and a first ever conversation with Basketball Operations Leadership.
Whether it is the Amex early entry gate, ticket presales, Bulls Drops, or Club Red postgame concerts, each execution is designed specifically to demonstrate that the Bulls are better #withAmex.
Organizations
- Chicago Bulls
- American Express
- United Center
Links
Credits
Laniesa Shafer
Manager, Partnership Marketing
Chicago Bulls
Jamie Litoff
Director, Partnership Marketing
Chicago Bulls
Megan Donovan
VP, Partnership Marketing
Chicago Bulls
Anthony Piccioni
Manager, Partnership Strategy & Insights
Chicago Bulls
Serena Yeh
Sr Manager, Digital Partnerships
Chicago Bulls
Kayla King
Brand and Fan Development
Chicago Bulls
Kim Bonnema
Product Manager
Chicago Bulls
Jon Shoemaker
Executive Director, Creative Services
Chicago Bulls
Leo Ehrline
Sr. Manager, Global Sports Sponsorships
American Express
Sebastien Gray
Sr. Analyst, Global Sponsor Sponsorships
American Express
Andrea Jones
Director, Global Brand Sponsorships & Experiential Marketing
American Express
Kristina Hunt
Vice President, Sponsorship Assets, Benefits & Operations; Global Advertising & Brand Management
American Express
Laini Dimonte
Director, Brands
Wasserman
Lindsay Montemarano
Manager, Brands
Wasserman
Jacquelyn Caplan
Manager, Business Leadership
Momentum Worldwide
Anna Flynn
Assistant Associate, Business Leadership
Momentum Worldwide
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
