Entering the third year of its annual Member Week, American Express faced a challenge. How can we deepen engagement with existing customers, but also engage new customers, notably the next generation, with our brand experience?

The opportunity to use mobile technology to engage everyone with our next level brand experience, American Express Member Week, became clear. To make Member Week the best week to be a member, and the best week to experience a taste of what being a Member is like if you’re not one already.

Once a year, American Express Card Members get access to the best week ever. Exclusive experiences. Exclusive offers. Exclusively for Card Members. But what about people who aren’t Card Members? How do they even know what they’re missing?

This year, we did the unthinkable for a brand considered as exclusive as American Express. For the first time ever, we just let Prospects act like Card Members. And experience how special it is to be a Member.

How? The Member Week Pass—the ticket to experience a taste of what it feels like to be a Member for one unforgettable week. The pass utilized mobile technology that transformed digital wallets into our largest real-time consumer engagement platform. But not just any engagement. These were curated to just the right people, at the right time, leading them to the right places—so they never missed a Member Week moment.

At its core, Member Week was about engaging a GenZ and Millennial audience–some of whom are loyal, card carrying Amex members. The rest of whom are, well, not.

We know this target prioritizes experiences over things, but we also know that the choices at their fingertips are overwhelming. Even choosing what to watch on TV has been proven daunting. Americans spend 45 hours per year just choosing what to watch next. Our approach was to cut out the search. Intercept people’s lives with tailored invitations to brand experiences, and use mobile technology to make them feel like they’re only a click away.

The beauty of the execution was The Member Week Pass. Specifically, using mobile technology with native cross-platform support that everyone could download to experience Member Week this year.

It took a few simple questions to add the pass to people’s digital wallets and personalize the experience based on location, interests, and more. From there, the pass turned 221,000 digital wallets into a massive real-time communications platform. Delivering over 3 million notifications over the week. But not just any notifications. Meaningful engagement. Curated to the right people, at the right time, leading them to the right places—so they never missed a touchpoint of the brand experience.

Like an intimate night with Olivia Rodrigo in LA or viewable on YouTube, meeting and competing with pros at Topgolf, immersive dining experiences, limited-edition Hypebeast drops, ticket giveaways to NBA, NHL, and F1, a Little Simz show in NYC, theater experiences, and more.

More than 200,00 Member Week Passes downloaded

3 million notifications sent

Nearly 1 million experience engagements, across 13 hybrid events, reflects +196% YOY