When it comes to the holiday shopping season, there’s a day for the big boys: Black Friday. And a day for internet merchants: Cyber Monday. But what about the small independently owned businesses? You know, the ones that were supposed to be saving the U.S. economy. Shouldn’t there be a day for them too? American Express OPEN thought so and they created a day just for the little guy: Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday was set to launch on November 27, 2010, smack in the middle of the biggest shopping weekend of the year. And American Express OPEN had just three weeks to create, promote and establish a day no one had ever heard of.

The Small Business Saturday Facebook page was the hub of the movement, where small business owners could find tools to promote the day and consumers could declare their support. Posts about the benefits of supporting small local businesses got thousands of likes and helped grow the community leading up to the big day. Next, a TV spot hit the air with a rallying cry of "Shop small. It’s going to be huge." The spot was also adapted for shoppers to see online, in elevators, at sporting events and even in taxi cabs. Full-page ads ran in newspapers across the country, side-by-side with ads from all the big box retailers.

Radio spots with people declaring their love for small businesses ran in the days leading up to Thanksgiving weekend.

People even helped launch the idea for us online, tweeting about SBS, including AmEx endorser and avid shopper Ellen DeGeneres.

By its third week, Small Business Saturday was the fastest growing page on Facebook, and over 1.2 million people had joined the community.

41 Mayors and Governors across the country officially declared November 27 "Small Business Saturday." As word spread about SBS, the press picked up on the story. Over 2,500 articles appeared everywhere from the local nightly news to the Wall Street Journal.

Most importantly, all that awareness turned into action. In a year when holiday sales increased less than 4%, that weekend saw overall sales up 9%. And small retailers saw sales to customers using their American Express Cards jump 28%.

In the end, OPEN had created a brand new day in the holiday shopping season, and the heart of the American shopper.