One of the biggest industries affected by COVID-19 was travel. American Express asked us to come up with strategy and creative during this period, entirely shifting their tone and creative approach to encourage their card members to travel safely and responsibly.
Over a 16 month period as a designer, I was involved in creating and producing digital and print assets, image sourcing, retouching, and establishing creative guidelines that highlighted this new direction.
Photoshoots were no longer a thing, as the risk to shoot them and gather the talent was impossible. Instead, our solution was to build a robust stock image library that was individually retouched and curated to match the style of American Express Travel.
The result was an image library of over 100+ images used for internal and external marketing and design teams.
Guidelines and messaging were created that provided the resources needed to create advertising and other content. From what to avoid, layout changes, and strategy—this went out to all partners from lodging to air on how to properly market themselves during a pandemic.
In 2021, a variety of print ads were created during this time to reassure travel industry partners, advisors, peers, and card members.
Booking travel through American Express Travel as a card member gave you access to their luxury hotel selection with The Hotel Collection and Fine Hotels + Resorts.
I concepted, designed, and produced mailers for their Platinum and Gold Card Members utilizing the same language and intent from "Every Step of the Way."
I don't think I would've ever guessed that I would be working on a project that only came into existence because of a global pandemic—at least not in my lifetime. This was a very unique opportunity that required a lot of empathy and understanding in the do's and don'ts of advertising, especially in a sensitive topic such as travel during this time.
The work we've done won a silver HSMAI Adrian Award in the "Recovery Campaign Evolution" category, as well as a Gold Magellan award by the Travel Weekly Awards in the Advertising/Marketing Campaign category.
