Captivating Gen Z: Amex’s Strategy To Engage the Next Generation with Mary Ellen Jelenek

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[00:01:02] We're here live from the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. I'm thrilled to be joining with Mary Ellen Jelenek, who's just celebrated 24 years working at American Express. I'm so excited to dig in. Great to see you. Thank you. Thanks for having me, Matt.

[00:01:22] Absolutely. It's not lost to me that we're here at the Barclay Center and American Express is a big sponsor of the Brooklyn Nets. I live in Brooklyn. Big fan of everything you do to support the team here.

[00:01:31] And I know that you also support a variety of other teams, the NBA, the Bulls, the Lakers, etc. Why is the NBA a property that's been so important for MX as you continue to build your brand? Well, thanks for having us here.

[00:01:40] And I'm so glad that you're a fan and that you're a local. That's so important to us. So look, the NBA is an incredibly important partner. And we think about that at the league level in what we do,

[00:01:52] but also to your point in the team and the venue level specifically. And so if I think about here in Brooklyn, we make sure we want to offer our card members who are Nets fans the absolute best experience. And if I think about Barclay Center,

[00:02:05] Barclay has been a great partner for us as is the Nets and the Liberty. We actually have a relationship with the Liberty as well as we support women's sports. But if I think about the venue, we actually are just launched something called the American Express venue collection.

[00:02:19] And we want to make sure that when our card members show up at a venue, they know that they can sort of get something extra or special because they're with American Express. So we give them access to tickets. We make sure that when they show up,

[00:02:31] they can get to the action faster because there's a fast lane entrance. And then they get discounts on site. And so that venue benefit is now consistent across nine venues in the U.S. and UK more to come. But we're excited to sort of give that consistency

[00:02:44] whether you're at a Nets game, a Liberty game. And live sports has really just gained in power in the world of media. I mean, if you look at the top 100 watch programs on linear TV, GR, I think 95 are live NFL games.

[00:02:57] And obviously when you look at linear TV, which is a channel that a lot of large brands have built their brand equity on. The only thing that's really corraling consumers at scale is live sports, right? That's right. In linear TV, that's really what remains.

[00:03:11] And I do think there's so much passion in live sports, right? That it's a really important channel for us in media but also in that actual on-site experience. Which if we think about American Express, we really think about ourselves as being in the business of membership.

[00:03:26] So when I think about membership, it's really about when you show up, what does it feel like when you're with American Express, right? Yeah. And you've been at AmEx for 24 years. So the business and the industry has changed so dramatically since you joined.

[00:03:40] Talk to me about, I guess, what are some of the biggest highlights of your journey at AmEx and how you think the business has changed the most from the day you walked into the door 24 years ago to today. I started in the Traveler's Check Division.

[00:03:52] So that pretty much... What's a Traveler's Check? That's not at all, right? So I used them studying abroad and then I joined the company in that role. So I joined the company in 2000 and I was in what was called our Traveler's Check Division.

[00:04:05] It quickly became our prepaid division because we realized those products needed to turn to plastic or metal in some cases. Sure. And so I think when I think back to that, I just really wanted to join a company that I knew I could grow at.

[00:04:18] And so I went to school in Boston. I moved back to New York. I was working in event planning and I will never forget driving home from New Jersey when the phone rang with my hiring leader that I got the job to go work at American Express.

[00:04:31] I started as an advertising coordinator and so when I think back to that, I was super eager and like hungry to learn. I worked really, really hard and American Express has been really good to me and that they have afforded me opportunities to do a variety of things,

[00:04:46] work in a variety of functions, be it marketing, advertising, sponsorships now. I've held P&L roles. I've worked globally. So for me, that growth has just been so fun and it's the 20 plus years has gone in a flash. So I've obviously seen the business of all

[00:05:02] from paper products to plastics and metal but it's also a company that has a tremendous focus on growing talent and I think that's been really amazing for me personally and then to then get to lead teams and do that for them. And when I think about Amex

[00:05:17] and just the heritage of the brand, one thing that hasn't changed, I remember the tagline, I don't know how long ago it started but membership has its privileges. And when you talk about walking to the Barclay Center and the fast pass into the line

[00:05:29] and getting all these perks, it sounds like that is kind of the constant that you want to make your members feel like that they're taken care of. That's absolutely right. We call it powerful backing. We want to make sure that when you're with American Express

[00:05:42] you feel like American Express has your back and for experiences that comes in the form of making sure that the experience is a little better with American Express. We give you access to enjoy your top passion be it sports, music and theater

[00:05:58] and that we can even ignite new ones. You can try those new things and then when you're with American Express you know you're going to get that access but you're also going to get something a little more when you visit on site.

[00:06:09] And of course travel is another huge vertical in terms of having your back. 100% travel dining as well but travel is really like our origin in that having your back and that powerful backing to make sure that your experience is safe, secure, special all of those things.

[00:06:25] And that goes back to really at the core of membership it is experience. It's being our brand mission is to be the world's most respected in providing an exceptional customer experience every day. And so it's really about that every day part that across whether it's travel

[00:06:43] or entertainment or dining that we make sure we're doing something to make the customer experience really great. It's interesting because when you think about a credit card and the actual product of a credit card one could look at the product of a credit card like the physical card

[00:06:57] and then the product attributes could be the interest rates and the experience of paying for the card and actually things that actually have to do with the card but over time Amex has really evolved into a lifestyle brand. You don't hear Amex talking about it

[00:07:10] the same way you don't hear Apple talking about their chips as much right? I talk about what the Apple devices unlock and the key to being a lifestyle brand is what it unlocks and for you you're unlocking a lifestyle and when you talk about the backing of Amex

[00:07:23] so in that strategy and obviously the strategy Amex has gone all in on how do you know what your members care about and doesn't that change a lot and how do you like evolve and make those decisions with the consumer? Absolutely. We are deeply rooted

[00:07:37] in the customer insights right? Obviously our existing card member is at the core of what we do how we think about bringing to life different assets across sports music etc but we're also really focused on the fastest growing segment there so we look a bunch

[00:07:52] at the Millennial and Gen Z customer 60% of the new customers who we bring in. Wow, is that through Amex Blue or are they coming in? Interestingly no. A lot of them are coming in through our premium products where they pay a fee but they see tremendous value

[00:08:06] They're more active and they're traveling a lot and they get most advantage of all the perks that you provide. Yeah, so whether it's a travel value prop on the Platinum card or dining related to the gold product they come in and they pay the fee for those products

[00:08:20] and they really see the value in doing that so as we think about that Millennial and Gen Z customer there's a lot that in the experience space that we have in the portfolio that appeals to them but we also just the end of last year announced

[00:08:36] a new partnership with Formula One Formula One is close to having a billion fans massive global movement massive global movement, right? And it's one of those partnerships where I think north of 70% of the fan base is Millennial and Gen Z so it's not a coincidence

[00:08:52] that we looked at Formula One as a new partner we matched that up because of the growing card member base we have in that segment and Coachella is another example of targeting that younger generation. That's right, that's right a lot in the music festival space targets that Millennial

[00:09:04] Gen Z population as well as what we call our direct artists partnerships we changed up our music model I guess over the past 18 months really where we used to be really focused on providing ticket sale access pre-sales and we still have that

[00:09:20] and it's still part of what we offer but we realized we really wanted to do more to make it a little bit more special so we started to partner directly with artists and their teams to build out a curated experience for our card members

[00:09:34] and we did this with Ed Sheeran we're in the process of doing it right now with Olivia Rodrigo so if I think about Olivia we launched our partnership with the announcement of her last tour and we had a card member concert in LA

[00:09:48] it was at a venue that she'd always wanted to play at but she became so big so fast it was a little bit of an underplay for her right but she wanted to go back there that's where that co-collaboration comes in learning from her team

[00:10:00] what's important to her, what's important to us what's important to the fan and so she did an acoustic concert with a Q&A our card members got to come and see her play some of her guts album experience and money really can't buy right?

[00:10:14] exactly right, can't replicate it right they got to learn about the guts album they got to learn more about her I actually was able to attend that one it was really really special and then that flows through too she's on tour and we activate with her on tour

[00:10:28] so there's a number of ways then that that flows through that has been really differentiating for us it's interesting because the world's really changed it used to be that prestige brands didn't want to target a younger generation because there was a signaling that it wasn't a prestige brand

[00:10:42] but now when I talked about this 10 years ago when I wrote Youth Nation which is like the young people are now driving culture in society and you can be a prestige brand by leaning into these things because I think older consumers now are acting

[00:10:56] younger and they have accessed the younger things they have Instagram they can see what younger people are doing so they're no longer disconnected meaning you have older people at Coachella too you have older people that like Olivia Rodrigo so you can lean into pop culture

[00:11:08] in a way that doesn't denigrate the luxury and prestige aspects of the MX brand that's 100% right and they're multi-generational that's what I think you're saying and I looked around that Olivia Rodrigo concert and it is a multi-generational audience with beautiful thing absolutely I love her music as do

[00:11:24] my kids so obviously a big role of any marketer in the modern age is data and understanding data MX obviously has a ton of data across so many different channels how do you use data from your consumer to drive your strategies and decisions we leverage

[00:11:40] customer insights a ton we don't do anything without talking to customers before we go to market evaluating what customers thought on the other side and I think that is really core to how we go to market but then also continue to evolve and innovate once we

[00:11:56] are in market I'll give you an example please we just took all of our experience assets right sports music theater and we put them under the umbrella of MX experiences it might sound fairly obvious but we were calling it entertainment internally we're calling the category

[00:12:12] entertainment and it's one of those things that like customer research told us people think of entertainment is streaming it's passive yes then what you have here these are full-blown experiences you have to take credit for what you're actually creating for your members and fans and so

[00:12:28] I think it's just an example of how from the data that drives big decisions like should we invest in formula one because of the generation it appeals to on the scale through to what are the right words we're using we're incredibly data and insights driven

[00:12:42] we'll be right back with the speed of culture after a few words from our sponsor music and the word experiences is interesting because by nature experiences are very hard to scale right when you think about in real life and doing something where there's people

[00:13:30] and then okay sure you can do something here at the Barclays Center you have your headquarters here but you're operating I'm sure events and activities all around the world at any given time I mean how much of that does that take off your job dealing with the headaches

[00:13:42] and the fire alarms of live events and experiences you must have some stories we've got an amazing team and definitely stories you can't control it sometimes though I think the key is really like you just you have to plan right you have to have principles

[00:13:56] and a vision for how things are going to go but you also have to be flexible you have to be nimble and you have to react in the moment and I think that's something that we pride ourselves on being very principled really keeping the brand

[00:14:08] at the center of everything in both making the brand relevant but also in keeping the brand safe and thinking about that card member right like what is the right experience for that card member and if we have to pivot on site usually ends up being logistics related

[00:14:22] that we pivot to make sure that the experience is optimal right it ends up being small things and how are you as a professional you talk about consumer insights which ensures one piece of it but obviously it's incumbent on you in your role to make sure that

[00:14:36] you're kind of the arbiter of cool right I mean I love everyone anyone's ever said that to you before but you kind of are in that role if you choose an artist or a franchise or something that is just out of taste with consumers

[00:14:48] and they may not think that you understand them etc so how do you do that like how do you understand what's around the corner to know that have conviction something like F1 let me tell you my kids do not think I'm in the arbiter

[00:15:00] okay well give me their number I'll call them I'll tell them how cool their mom's job is so that's amazing it's a great question and so I do think we're incredibly data driven formula one is a great example right and for me I really learned about formula

[00:15:14] one in this job so I had seen Drive to Survive I could look at the numbers on paper and say like the growing fan base is incredible this is a hot place right like we should look at this but I hadn't been to a race

[00:15:28] so if they think about that early evaluation I first did the number side of it and the what's on paper the viewership the growing fan base the everything yeah I was huge quite young but knowing I hadn't been to a race I said I can't actually fully evaluate

[00:15:42] this until I see it in real life and so it was actually towards the end of the schedule there were three races left and it meant I either I looked at the schedule and I said I guess I'm going to Mexico in five days

[00:15:52] so the team and I like pulled together a trip we went to Mexico City and I have to say seeing it in real life you always have to see something in real life and it's most electric Mexico City happens to be an incredible race

[00:16:04] but I could just see then the way it would come together of like this is an amazing experience in and of itself and it allows you to activate the right way because how can you drive activation I've never been there as well

[00:16:16] you have to walk in those shoes right but I could tell once we got on site I could see the ways that obviously our card members want access to this but then we can also find ways to make it special for a card member an example is

[00:16:28] we play quite heavily in tennis as well and we've always open yes open and Wimbledon yeah and we've provided radios there so fans can hear the match well formula one we said wouldn't that be great you don't aren't always able to hear any broadcast or announcer

[00:16:44] but obviously need a totally different radio than tennis sure but that was something we were able to then integrate that like our amix card members could get that radio and really have an amazing experience on site where they're following every moment of the race

[00:16:58] you throw in a fan experience for card members a lounge and you start to have our playbook of assets that the amix card member goes there and knows they're getting something extra special because they're with us yeah and really something that is contextual

[00:17:10] to the event that they're at and you know then fast forward we worked with formula one over the course of many months to come to the right partnership we launched in Austin and then Vegas was a very big deal for them we were more than 50%

[00:17:24] of the tickets sold for Vegas which was another like going back to your data question you then have the validation on the other side that you know we acting at the business results that's right it was the right thing and obviously experiences are such a big part

[00:17:36] of people's passion points but the other thing people love is their phones and they're staring at their phones 24-7 and the way to reach them on the phones as we know is through content so what role does content creation play as an extension

[00:17:50] to all these events because I would imagine it creates a massive way more scalable opportunity to take the power of these events and drive the business results that's 100% right and we think about that content creation as expanding that reach to your point we expand the reach

[00:18:04] of the event it then tells other card members but also our prospects I think that content of I was an AmEx card holder I got my tickets through AmEx I went to the US Open there was an incredible fan experience I was able

[00:18:18] to go to the CardMemberLounge and they needed a little respite I got this radio all of that can broadcast through and then the prospect to maybe they're at the event and they see that or maybe they're looking at it on social and says oh

[00:18:30] that's pretty cool that AmEx does that we do it at Tennis, at Golf in Racing they start to realize those expanding concentric circles of places where we show up that way that content is hugely important for us. And are you working closely with folks like say CardMember acquisition

[00:18:48] to be able to retarget people based upon the passion point interests to take that content as sort of like a carrot to bring them in, to the portfolio. Think about the full funnel of reporting right so we think about experiences and things like that content media being

[00:19:02] upper funnel but then flowing through eventually to acquiring that new customer. Absolutely. We even sometimes let customers sample things on site if you think about you show up at the American Express fan experience we will let a prospect come in

[00:19:16] and take a look at that so they get a little taste of membership too. Yeah, absolutely So looking forward in terms of how quickly things have changed with the consumer are there new trends and habits that consumers are adopting that you have your eye on

[00:19:28] as a marketer to keep things moving forward? Definitely. I mean I think that in the music space we're always focused on what's next, that next artist I think that gaming is an interesting space that we're evaluating I also think like further integration between the physical

[00:19:46] experiences and the digital experience is increasingly important to us. We've done some of that if you think about, I'll go back to Wimbledon we had a Fortnite game integration with that activation so customers could experience the real-life match but then also play in game. I think that

[00:20:02] there's also an increased integration one for that interesting gamification that customers are looking for but also there's a practicality as you said everybody is on their phone and an ease that we want to make sure we deliver so most of the events that we activate at

[00:20:18] we are starting to integrate into their app if you think about somebody's going to Coachella well before they got to Coachella when they download the app to see the lineup we make sure that we're integrated into that app so that they know what they can get

[00:20:32] with their American Express. They know where the CardMember lounge that they can go to the fan experience that they can go to and actually this past Coachella we also made sure that we pushed out a merchandise offer on their app before the event even started

[00:20:46] so it also starts to extend the time period which makes the event as relevant which is we think an important thing yeah I mean a few things came to mind as I heard you talk one what you talk about gaming and you can't mention sports these days

[00:20:58] without mentioning sports gambling which is now legalized in many states here in the US for better or worse the NBA has embraced as well as fantasy sports so those are things that have gamification that have really driven a deeper fan engagement and really brought the casual

[00:21:12] fan into the fold of sports. That's right yeah so it's going to be interesting to see how that evolves the second thing I was at a dinner with a group of marketers and I was talking about the Apple Vision Pro have you gotten to try those on yet?

[00:21:22] I have not. Okay because that to me is something where I'm not sure how quickly it's going to be adopted and gain widespread adoption but when you talk about bring the experience to people and the access and the content you're able to create

[00:21:36] I would imagine there's a world in the future where VR, AR could have real applications to your card members and your business model. It's incredible to think about right the way that could scale something that's almost an in real life experience. Now what I counter that with

[00:21:50] is that I do feel like the growth and desire for experiencing something that is actually in real life is really there I agree with you I think there's two actually forces on the customer side that have really pushed that forward in the experiential space. One is that

[00:22:08] there is definitely a post-pandemic reaction of I want to go to in real life experience. I want to feel like I'm traveling rage or something. Revenge travel. And I think they just want to feel alive. Go to a sports event, you're screaming for a concert. Exactly, you're singing

[00:22:24] along with the artist. You feel so alive and I think that's here to stay. 100%. The other piece is that the Millennial Gen Z population if we ask them when they join American Express they're 60% of our new cards experiences are a big driver of why

[00:22:40] they signed up and we also know that that's a population that is willing to pay. I think it's nearly 80% said they'll pay up for the right experience and also they're willing to travel for those experiences a little over a third or say not only do I want to

[00:22:56] have these amazing experiences, I'll travel to see that sports team to experience that incredible like event. So I do think the in real life piece is here to stay and will always remain important. Yeah, it's interesting as I think about the role of

[00:23:12] the analytics of my life. So I signed up I think for my first MXMOS at BU and I'm still an MXCard member today but now my business uses MX. So I also would imagine that you targeting Millennials and Gen Z who are entrepreneurial by nature

[00:23:28] there's a crossover impact to your business side of your consumer application. That's look we have a huge focus on small businesses and businesses of all sizes. So I think we're definitely focused on meeting the needs of businesses at any level in both the payment

[00:23:44] side of things as well as if they're an accepting merchant. And I think that's actually another having been an MX for 24 years. I spent a good amount of time also working on our shop small programs which is an incredibly rewarding one to bet in the pandemic

[00:23:58] but I think we have a keen focus on making sure that we're helping businesses as well as consumers. Absolutely so shifting gears to wrap up here to you and your career obviously great run at MX and it sounds like you continue to strive incredible innovation to the brand

[00:24:14] when you look back at your career you made decisions say one place you're in another career which is really rare. And a lot of people now I think they come into the workforce think that they need to move every two to three years and

[00:24:24] I guess in some ways there's benefits to that but there's also benefit to understanding a culture and a business and feeling comfortable in working your way up what were some decisions you think you made right along the way besides just sticking

[00:24:36] it out there that allowed you to put you in a position that you are today. Sure so look I have a left brain answer to this and a right brain answer to this right I think on the left brain side I've had an amazing

[00:24:46] range of experiences so I've worked in B2B businesses as well as B2C businesses I always tell marketers you want to work across both yeah no matter which direction you end up going but I agree yeah but I think the depth

[00:24:58] of customer insights you learn from working at a B2C business is unparalleled and I think the complexity of a B2B business is really important to understand and so I feel really grateful and that was one thing that's afforded me and a number of roles where

[00:25:12] I've been able to do both the other I'd say is it's a truly global company and so I've really been able to work across a variety of geographies and a variety of business lines that was really really good experience and that sort of helps me flip

[00:25:24] to the right side brain of it right like I think I have colleagues friends mentors from all around the world having worked at this company and I do think the people at the company are special I do think it's a company where there is longer

[00:25:36] tenure perhaps a little abnormal in this day and age but I think it's because there's an open mindedness to growth and if I think about the variety of roles MX has offered me to play at the company be it across levels obviously but also across functions I've worked

[00:25:54] in marketing I've worked in product roles I did a stint in M&A I've managed P&L's it's been a nice range of activity that I felt like I was always growing and so I think it's that combination of the business really having multiple businesses within

[00:26:10] that allowed me to grow I always felt like there was something new yeah I think that's when people leave they don't feel challenged that's right and I think there's a strong culture of innovation that makes things feel fresh right so 24 years can just go buy on a flash

[00:26:24] I know I know it all too well and when you think about the next generation of leaders at MX and building your team what do you look for and bring new people onto your team and what makes an entry or new level employee successful

[00:26:38] at MX I've always said there's two things you want to do you want to make sure that you're driving results and that you're building strong relationships and if you do those things across any body of work I think your likelihood of success is really really strong

[00:26:52] and how are those strong relationships built in your opinion in a corporate environment look I think it's largely about listening I think it's about both you know to what somebody is saying to what they're not saying I think it's about asking probing questions

[00:27:04] I think it's about finding mutually beneficial solutions and that's with internal partners as well as external partners I think it's probably the most important thing in my job right now is really listening and making sure that I can solve problems in a way that it works

[00:27:18] for all parties involved yeah you never stop listening no matter how long you've been in the company there's always more to learn and it's never a zero sum game right absolutely cool well to wrap things up here I mean it's been so amazing hearing about your journey

[00:27:30] and everything you've accomplished at MX is there a mantra saying that you like to live by you think can embody your career oh gee your journey I actually I often say to people is enjoy when the wind is at your back yeah right and like success

[00:27:44] can be glorious and absolutely enjoy that don't enjoy it for too long I think you have to keep moving on and keep delivering and on the flip side of that what I always say is that things will go wrong particularly I say this to younger colleagues

[00:28:00] right who perhaps haven't had that experience yet of something going wrong and I say what matters in that situation when something goes wrong is how you handle it I think you want to be honest you want to look at it objectively

[00:28:12] you want to stay calm so that people tell you what's actually happening keep your head about you and I think the way you handle something going wrong is really indicative of character and I think that's what's probably the most important thing in how you manage your career

[00:28:26] is your character absolutely couldn't agree more awesome well thanks again for joining on behalf of Susie and the ad-wee team thanks again to Mary Ellen Gellinick for joining us today be sure to subscribe right with you to speed a culture podcast on your favorite podcast platform

[00:28:38] till next time see you soon adweek.com to find out more about Susie head to susie.com and make sure to search for the speed of culture in Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts or anywhere else podcasts are found

[00:29:06] click follow so you don't miss out on any future episodes on behalf of the team here at Susie thanks for listening