PR Small Business Saturday

While I found most of the PR Week 2013 award-winning campaigns fascinating, I had a difficult time distinguishing which would be best to analyze. I then put my “mega-consumer” cap on and simply picked the campaign that I specifically remember as an average, everyday, American consumer. The “Small Business Saturday” campaign composed by American Express was an initiative that has stuck with me since it’s initial beginning, and I was delighted to see that it had gained award-winning recognition. American Express launched the campaign on November 27th, 2010 alongside PR partners, M Booth. Essentially, the campaign addressed the question of, “On the busiest shopping weekend of they year, what will make consumers “shop small business”?” While American Express is a credit card company, the ability to generate the idea of “small shopping” with like-minded consumers and businesses became the launch pad for an on-going campaign that had obtained an epic amount of success. As the economic struggles in the United States have persisted, small businesses have had a particularly difficult time staying afloat. With incentives for small businesses to generate costumer sales, $100 of Facebook advertising for the businesses and $25 American Express cardholder rebates were implemented into the social media and marketing frenzy, creating a major “buzz” among the nation.

Since its launch in 2010, the “Small Business Saturday” Facebook page has generated over 3.2 million “likes”. Additonally, more than 350 small business organizations supported the nationwide initiative with more than 50 Chambers of Commerce and 60 groups organizing events and activities in support of the day. The primary goals of the campaign was to create discussion about American Express (potentially boosting their business), along with assisting small businesses and initiating a relationship that is mutually beneficial as well as convincing consumers to spend with them. Because American Express is an enormous