Corporate Brand and PR

A companies brand image is one of the most important factors in being successful and having a strong following. Consumers want to work with or buy products from a company that has a strong brand name and can be trusted. If your company is not known for great work, honesty, and ethics you will not be very successful. American Express has been able to great such a strong brand name that they are often sought out by other corporations to partner together for particular events or products. AmEx is known for being an elite banking institution that thrives to be the worlds most respected brand service.

To create such a strong brand name and ensure a large following the company has involved the public relations team. The AmEx PR team has created a number of campaigns to keep customers coming back while bringing in new ones. The company has decided to use celebrity endorsements to show how powerful and respected the corporation is. The company explains to the public (mostly though advertising) which celebrities are American Express card members thus showing the public who trusts them to handle their finances. Over the years there have been numerous advertisements involving: Ellen Degeneres, Jerry Senifeld, and Tiger Woods. The company has chosen to work with these people because they reach out to their target audience. Once the public is aware of which celebrities use AmEx the PR team is able to get creative and further utilize the sponsorships.

American Express will host events and have particular celebrities at the events to promote the brand name. It is the public relations teams job to make sure the media and the public understand these people are their supporting their corporation and believe in the company. The PR team makes sure the celebrities understand the company and their mission this way the relationship is mutually beneficial for both parties.

American Express wants the public and the media to understand they are always there for their customers thus they are a reliable brand. The public relations team often issue press releases informing the media and public about new products, new services, and special deals exclusively for card members. The PR also keeps the public up to date on relevant information by using social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook. When the public knows what is going on within the company and the good things that are being done for card members the brand image is strengthened. It is the PR teams job to keep that brand image strong and the American Express team does a great job of keeping the public up to date.

As I stated before American Express makes sure they look into every relationship they develop to ensure it is appropriate for their image and their customers. When AmEx decided to work with bank insinuations to issue cards they wanted to ensure they kept their strong brand name in tact. Once they made the decision to work with certain banks the public relations team created a Frequently Asked Questions page on their web site to help the public understand this new relationship. In this section the PR team explains that these relationships will "strengthen our brand image" and the company will only work with respectable institutions. AmEx wanted the public to understand they were doing this to make their company stronger and further benefit their customers.
Once a company has created a strong brand name it is important to keep that image in tact and takes a lot of work. The public relations team should be kept up to date on all relevant information within the company so they can insure the companies strong image remains. The PR team needs to know if a merger is going to happen or if there is a crisis within the company so they can do their best to make sure the company's image does not suffer. A company with a strong brand name is often able to overcome many issues or crisis with the help of a good public relations team so it is important to build a strong brand.