Media Relations

American Express recently sponsored an event in New York City to benefit the relief fund for Haiti. Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief was held on February 12th was a runway event benefiting the victims of the recent disaster in Haiti. Musicians, actors and celebrities walked down the runway in clothes designed by some of fashions tops designers. The event was meant to be a fun night to support a great cause.

To promote the event AmEx relied on their public relations team to get the information out to the public and media quickly. To start the company issued a press release to major media outlets and posted it on their website. The release stated covered all the facts regarind the event quoted American Express's Director of Global Sponsorship Marketing and Naomi Campbell. The AmEx employee explained that the company was proud to work with Naomi to support such a great cause while Naomi stated her objectives were to help those in need. In addition to issuing a press release AmEx also used the company's Twitter page to promote the event. In days leading up to the event they Tweeted important information about the fashion show in hopes of getting people excited. They also Tweeted pictures and updates as the event was taking place. This way those who were unable to attend the show could see what was going on.

American Express used the media to effectivily publicized the event. Leading up to the event they provided different media outlets with information regarding the events and those who would be in attendance. The PR department was able to create enough buzz about the event to have many reports show up at the event. There were tons of photographers taking pictures of the celebrities as then entered the event as well as those that were given press credentials inside. AmEx wanted people to understand the event was very exclusive although it was ultimately for a good cause. Tickets were available exclusively to American Express card owners before the general public and those card holders were alerted via email about the event.


American Express did receive a lot of publicity for the event and it was covered by many different media outlets. Doing a quick Google search you could see the event was covered by high end magazines, well-liked news websites, videos appeared on YouTube and newspapers. By the amount of coverage I was able to find regarding the event I would say it was a major success for the company. AmEx was able to partner itself with a great cause and be associated with a number of well liked celebrities and other well known figures in society.

I think American Express did a great job choosing an appropriate event to sponsor and was able to receive great media coverage for the event. It is important for companies to think about the type of event they want to sponsor because that can help change the way the public sees them as a corporation and may even alter their brand identity. By working with celebrities for a great cause to help people who have recently been hurt by a major disaster was a smart move. It reminds people that AmEx is knowledgeable about current events, wants to help those less fortunate and realizes as a corporation they are morally responsible to worry about more than just making money. By using the media and social media effectively they were able to create a lot of buzz about the event which in turn caused it to be very well received. There were a ton of media hits on line and the public relations department is to thank for this.

As a soon to be public relations practitioner, I would have encouraged the company to create a live broadcast of the event so those who were unable to attend the exclusive event could watch from home. The footage from the show could have then been packaged and sent to television stations in hopes of they airing some of the footage during news broadcasts. There would also have been a way for those at home to use their American Express cards to donate to the cause as the event was going on. This way more money could have been raised and the event would have received even more coverage because it would have been viewed by more than those in New York City.

On the lighter side, there was one incident that did occur at the event and received a lot of media coverage as well. Model, Agyness Deyn fell not once but twice while walking down the runway at the fashion show. However she was a good sport about the incident and the crowd encouraged her to get back up and keep walking. When something like this does happen it can actually help promote an event because different media outlets may broadcast the coverage. In this case it was picked up by many blogs and celebrity gossip website. Overall American Express did a great job of sponosring and event and securing the media coverage it deserved.