American Express: From Karl Malden to Coco

Last week, late night TV’s prodigal comic returned in his new show on TBS titled “Conan”.  Attaching itself to the O’Brien zeitgeist is credit card provider American Express, which premiered a new commercial featuring O’Brien embarking on a quest through India for the perfect stage curtains.

Whereas Amex once was represented by Karl Malden telling consumers “don’t leave home without it,“ recently the company has been using leading comedians in their promotions.  Previous campaigns have featured Ellen DeGeneres, Tina Fey, and Jerry Seinfeld.  With Conan now earning his American Express endorser merit badge we took a look at his E-Scores along with those of past endorsers to see what makes Conan a good fit.

American Express Celebrity Brand Alignment

While Amex endorsers Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey and Conan O’Brien are all considered leaders in their fields they also share a number of top attributes. Using E-Score Celebrity we looked at each comedian’s top 5 attributes and a number of similarities appeared.

Both Funny and Talented are top attributes for each of the 4 Amex endorsers.  Other top attributes common among the 4 endorsers include Intelligent, Kooky/Wacky and Interesting.

According to E-Score Brand, American Express’s top attributes are High-Quality, Classic, Influential, Conservative and A Leader.  In the use of these successful comedians as endorsers, we see Amex both reinforcing the brand’s positive attributes and possibly trying to change previous perceptions as a stodgy and conservative brand.

E-Score Brand and Celebrity can work in conjunction to lead you to the ideal endorser.