Seeking Deals
New Sponsorships Coming From Chase Freedom Card
The Chase Freedom Lounge at San Francisco's Outside Lands festival hosts a VIP concert by Langhorne Slim.
: Looking to gain a point of differentiation in the competitive cash-back segment of the credit card category, issuer JPMorgan Chase & Co. is using sponsorship as a key component in the relaunch of its Chase Freedom card.
The banking giant signed new partnerships this year with three music festivals: September’s Life is good Festival in Canton, Mass.; July’s Outside Lands festival in San Francisco; and June’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.
And that’s just the beginning: The brand plans to build its sponsorship program over the next year, said Matt Kane, Chase Freedom’s general manager.
“We will do additional things in the fourth quarter, and we plan to do things in a bigger way next year.”
Just prior to rival
Discover Financial Services’ announcement that it would become title sponsor of the Orange Bowl,
IEG SR spoke with Kane about Chase Freedom’s sponsorship campaign, how the company is activating, and plans for future deals. Below are edited excerpts from the conversation.
IEG SR: Your recent sponsorship activity marks a new stage in the evolution of Chase Freedom. Can you give some background on the card, its positioning and its target customer?
Kane: Chase Freedom was launched in 2006, and it has gone through a number of incarnations.
This year we have focused on a major relaunch. We have upped the card’s value proposition to make it more compelling. We believe we have the best cash-back product on the market. We offer cardholders cash back, as well as the opportunity to use the cash to purchase interesting and engaging activities, such as once-in-a lifetime experiences and VIP packages at places like Bonnaroo and Outside Lands.
From an emotional perspective, we look for consumers who want cash-back rewards. From a credit standpoint, we target consumers at the upper end of the credit spectrum. Bonnaroo and Outside Lands hit both of those audiences.
IEG SR: In addition to audience fit, what else led you to those festivals?
Kane: We partnered with those events because we want to develop truly unique experiences that allow our customers to go to events and experience things they would not have access to in any other way.
We approached Superfly Marketing Group earlier this year as we were developing our marketing and media plan to help us develop access and deliver our VIP packages.
(Editor’s note: SMG sibling Superfly Presents produces the three Chase Freedom-sponsored music festivals.)
At Outside Lands we hosted private concerts at our on-site Chase Freedom Lounge for VIP customers. They experienced our brand in a very unique way.
At Bonnaroo, The Avett Brothers played our tent in front of 100 VIPs. Two hours later, they played in front of 60,000 screaming fans. That’s the type of experience we want to offer our customers.
IEG SR: The Chase Freedom Lounge is not exclusively a VIP area, correct?
Kane: We offer benefits to all of our cardholders, but we have differentiated access. Anyone with a Chase Freedom card can go to an event, see our signage and get access to a private area with refreshments and air conditioning. It’s a nice place to kick back and relax.
We also have VIP access that is auctioned off through our Ultimate Rewards Web site. People can redeem their rewards for VIP access. That includes watching a private concert with The Avett Brothers or watching Jay-Z or the Kings of Leon from the photo pit—they are not in the front row; they are standing next to professional photographers.
IEG SR: Are you using these sponsorships to acquire new customers?
Kane: We are not running an acquisition campaign at any of the festivals. Instead, we are building a sense of cardholder envy.
A good example is with The Avett Brothers concert; people who walked by our lounge heard them playing, and people were literally trying to crawl under the tent. It’s all about getting people to think differently about a credit card.
IEG SR: Have you signed any other partnerships to gain access to one-of-a-kind experiences?
Kane: We partnered with the release of
Toy Story 3 to host private viewings. We have also partnered with Dreamworks for the fourth-quarter release of
Megamind. We will host customers at the movie’s premiere, as well as at showings around the country.
This summer, we took over five or six beaches for a weekend. We hosted sandcastle-building competitions and distributed premium items. That provided brand exposure through a nontraditional channel and helped position our brand in a different light.
I’m not tipping my hand, but we will have an interesting presence during the fourth quarter holiday shopping period. We will be at a lot of places where our customers are.
IEG SR: How do you measure success?
Kane: My number one criterion is creating an incredible customer experience. When I promise someone a VIP experience at Bonnaroo, my first priority is delivering on that experience.
Our secondary priority is building that sense of cardholder envy. We look at PR exposure created from the events, changes in consumer perceptions toward our brand and media hits generated from the events.
Sources
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Tel: 212/270-6000