American Express
One of the most challenging — and rewarding — projects of my career was trying to shift the perception of American Express in Italy. People weren’t just indifferent to the brand; many had a negative opinion. They believed it was a card no one accepted. On the other side, merchants saw it as too expensive to integrate into their payment systems.
Our mission was clear: we had to make the brand interesting. That meant rethinking the way we communicated — finding the right tone, and then relentlessly pursuing cultural relevance. This is a snapshot of what my team set out to do, and how we started turning perception into conversation.
To launch the new American Express Gold card, which is completely made in metal we found a thing.
55% of italians make payments via smartphones
and this numbers is growing every day. In such scenario the new card was likely to remain hidden in the wallet. So we turned the momento of mobile payment
into an opportunity to show off the new Gold Card.
In partnership con MSGM we created The UnCover:
a limited edition phone-pouch designed to display the new card even when paying with smartphone.
To spread the word that American Express had an exclusive lounge at the BNL Tennis tournament in Rome, we decided to play — quite literally — with that familiar moment when you tap your card to pay. Because if you're a true tennis fan, you know there’s more than one way
to “make contact”: with a backhand, a volley, a smash, even a drop shot. So we turned a simple payment gesture into a game only real tennis lovers would appreciate.
Thanks to the new American Express ITA Airways Card — packed with perks both in the air and on the ground — flying became just as exciting as the destination. So we asked ourselves: what if the journey was the destination?
That’s how we came up with the first-ever Eurotrip without ever leaving the airports.
To bring it to life, we teamed up with Jakkidale — a wildly popular creator known for taking on quirky, over-the-top challenges that his community loves. And let’s be honest: spending a full week traveling across Europe without ever stepping foot outside an airport? That’s a challenge worthy of him. And one that turned every terminal into a new adventure.