The Situation: NBA fans love to wear the jerseys of their favorite players. And at approximately $200 each, they aren’t cheap. No wonder fans are distraught when their favorite player changes teams—in the NBA, 70% of players changed teams in 2018, alone. The bottom line, an NBA jersey is an investment, and there’s a lot of uncertainty to hesitate fans from making a purchase.

The Brief: How can we turn a fan pain point into a proof-point of the brand’s marketing platform: “The powerful backing of American Express.”?

The Objective: Show NBA Fans in a 360° campaign that American Express has their backs with an exciting and meaningful new NBA-specific benefit. Driving awareness of this new benefit and driving home a positive sentiment of the brand.

American Express partnered with Fanatics, the USA’s largest jersey retailer, and the NBA to create American Express Jersey Assurance, the first-ever year-long protection plan for NBA jerseys, exclusively for American Express Card Members.

When NBA players switch teams, fans can now exchange their jerseys for free, for up to a year - turning a disappointed fan, into a loyal Card Member.

NBA player movement from team to team is happening more than ever. Between April and June 2018, five of the top 15 selling NBA jerseys were of players who changed teams. Aside from the NBA finals, offseason transactions—NBA Draft, trades, and free agency—were the second most discussed topic among NBA fans, averaging over 3MM mentions per offseason.

In fact, 1 in 4 fans say their primary concern when purchasing a jersey is the player changing teams. NBA fans can be hesitant to invest in a jersey, out of concern their favorite player might leave. As the Official Card of the NBA, we added a new commerce benefit to our arsenal to alleviate some of fans’ angst. We transformed a very real fan pain point into a way we have our fans’ backs.

American Express Jersey Assurance launched in 2018. The innovative protection program provided an always-on, tangible benefit for all NBA fans. The campaign began around the 2018 trade deadline, with additional efforts—TV, print, social, and a live game broadcast piece—deployed around critical NBA heat movements involving player movement.

American Express Jersey Assurance underpinned the marketing platform: “The powerful backing of American Express,” and turned disappointed fans into loyal Card Members.” The program generated outstanding results:

- 23% increase in likelihood to recommend Amex

- 24% boost in NBA fans’ opinion of Amex

- 23% uplift in perception of how Amex delivers the best NBA experience

- 40% increase in total awareness of the American Express Jersey Assurance benefit

- 100% (double) increase in Card Members’ opinion of American Express Jersey Assurance’s value

- +270MM media impressions

- +25MM earned social impressions