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Campaign

Small Business Saturday

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the rundown

The aspiration was crazy: How can we create a National Holiday through grass-roots efforts (social media!) to support small businesses across America? How can we inspire merchants and consumers to take this idea and run with it? Given the state of the economy, we knew the idea was ripe, and American Express was perfectly positioned to ignite it.

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The Building Blocks

Now more than ever, people are the most effective channel for any idea or message. If they are inspired to share it, if they have passion for it, there's not telling how far they will take it. Our aspiration was a campaign that earned people's attention by doing something for the greater good. A campaign that used social media as its primary engine. Facebook provided the hub and amplifier. Twitter was integrated seamlessly allowing people to do a "shout out" to their favorite businesses. YouTube brought the idea and emotion to life through real stories from real businesses.

The Votes

The Details

Agency
Brand
American Express
Targeted Regions
  • North America
Marketing Objective
Launch Date
Nov. 27, 2010

The Team

  • DIGITAS www.digitas.com
  • Lincoln Bjorkman, Chief Creative Officer
  • Atit Shah, SVP, Group Creative Director
  • Matt DErcole, EVP, Executive Creative Director
  • Mark Kiernan, EVP, Marketing Director
  • Lewis McVey, VP, Group Creative Director
  • Jesse Suchmann, VP Creative Director

The Stats

  • 34 stomach ulcers
  • 40 Team members working on this project
  • 2000 total hours of missed sleep

The Results

Boosted sales for Small Businesses across America by 23%. Made an official holiday by the United States Congress. Tweeted about by President Obama. Almost 3 million people engaged with it on Facebook. Covered extensively by National and Local News media -- millions of dollars in free PR. In just 2 years, it has solidified its place as a national holiday and cultural phenomenon.

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