• by Tanya Gazdik , November 26, 2013

American Express is celebrating its “Members Since” mark of loyalty with a Facebook app.

Coinciding with the 50^th anniversary of the “Member Since” date being added to the card, American Express has created the Facebook experience that allows users to share their “Member Since” year and a badge on to their Timeline. Users are also served up a piece of Amex history from their “Member Since” year.  

By embossing the “Member Since” date on the Card, Amex created the notion of membership, which cardmembers have come to treat as a badge of honor. Ask most American Express cardmembers how long they’ve been a member and many can quickly reply without looking at their card, says Mona Hamouly, vice president, social media communications at American Express. 

“Since the launch of the ‘Member Since’ app, we’ve seen Amex cardmembers share some great stories on Facebook and Twitter about when they first got their card,” Hamouly tells Marketing Daily.

One 81-year-old man who’s been a cardmember since 1958 tweeted that he was one of the original Charter Members alongside Elvis Presley.

“Another woman jokingly shared with us on Facebook that she got her card as she was planning her wedding 10 years ago,” Hamouly says. “Today she still has her card but not the husband.”

Examples of these comments and Twitter replies are on American Express’ Facebook posts and Tweets promoting “Member Since.”

The financial services company built the app on Facebook with the functionality to share within the platform as well as on Twitter to make the conversation more viral and encourage more people to join the conversation.

“The Member Since app also is being promoted internally to encourage employee participation,” Hamouly says. “We’ve also engaged brand ambassadors directly to encourage their participation, and we’re working on an international version of the experience that can be leveraged across Amex’s 20-plus Facebook country pages.”

The brand also has a number of social media tactics and program extensions that it will be introducing as a “fast follower” to the app launch, she says.