The one day a year when consumers not only tolerate but actually eagerly anticipate ads is during the NFL's Super Bowl. In sharp contrast to their behavior on the other 364 days of the year, consumers watch an average of 89 commercials per Super Bowl game for an average of 46 minutes. Why are consumers willing to spend 3.5x more time watching commercials on the Super Bowl than on any other day of the year? Perhaps because they have come to expect the best, most creative, most engaging storytelling of the year from advertisers. With one out of every three Americans glued to the game, advertisers know they have a captive audience and they go to great lengths to stand out in what is somewhat akin to a battle of the brands. However, at a cost of more than $5 million for a 30-second spot, is Super Bowl advertising worth it? And, which types of Super Bowl stories are more and less likely to "win" on the Super Bowl?
Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with three questions. First, should GPS create its own mobile app for credit card customers or leverage the bank's already successful mobile banking app? Second, if a separate app was developed, then who should manage it? GPS managed the bank's credit card business and was as a separate entity, but the bank's digital assets were managed exclusively by the bank. Third, if a separate app was not developed, then would the required breadth and depth of functionality for the credit card customers be delivered? If a separate app was not developed, then would GPS be able to design one when they had never done so before? The credit card business included a popular loyalty program and GPS leadership was very focused on customer engagement and experience for program enrollees, but how best to do that was a critical question.
The case opens with three questions that Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, the executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with in January 2015. First, should GPS, create its own mobile app instead of capitalizing on the Bank's successful banking mobile app? Second, if a separate app was developed, then who should manage it? GPS managed the Bank's credit card business and was as a separate entity. But, the Bank's digital assets were managed exclusively by the Bank. Third, if a separate app was not developed, then how did the breadth and depth of functionality for the credit card customers need to be resolved? GPS employed nontraditional marketing techniques for managing the credit card business of the Bank. It was more of a loyalty program than a pure credit card business and had high focus on customer engagement and experience. GPS generated revenues from its customers (consumers and merchants) by managing installments and other features of credit cards. However, in 2013 and 2014, the banking watchdog of Turkey instituted a series of regulations on credit card providers to curb the prevailing consumer indebtedness in the country. As was the case for all Turkish retail banks and credit card businesses, GPS's profitability was hit severely. Evlioğlu immediately shifted her focus to the idea of transferring GPS's campaign management to a mobile app and driving down costs. But, how best to do that was a critical question.
Credit and charge card issuer American Express (Amex) had developed a strong reputation among consumers due in part to its Membership Rewards (MR) loyalty program, first established in 1991. Through MR, all Amex cardholders could accumulate and redeem "points" based on how much they spent, while customers with Amex's Gold and Platinum Cards received additional perks. By 2016, however, the U.S. credit card market had become increasingly competitive, with many credit card companies increasing their sign-on point bonuses for new customers. Chris Cracchiolo, Amex's vice president of U.S. loyalty, strategy, and global partnerships, had to decide how to position the MR program in the face of this competition. Should Amex begin offering more competitive sign-on bonuses and point redemption rates, or would this dilute the company's strong brand?
The launch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was enthusiastically received by millennial consumers, a cohort that had previously eluded JPMorgan Chase and its competitors. With the one-year anniversary of the launch approaching, managers are focused on retaining customers attracted by a one-time signup bonus of 100,000 reward points and on acquiring new customers now that the bonus had been reduced to 50,000 points. They were also refocusing on the remainder of the Chase Sapphire product portfolio to assess differentiation among the products and to identify white space in the market that could support additional new product launches.
On September 9, 2014, in front of a packed audience in Cupertino, CA, Tim Cook, the chief executive officer of Apple, announced the much anticipated launch of Apple Pay, "Our vision is to replace this [wallet] and we are going to start with payments." Cook then invited Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, to the stage to explain how Apple Pay would transform the mobile payments industry. He explained how Apple Pay would allow consumers to complete the check-out process within apps with a single touch, and without needing to repeatedly enter credit card information, the billing address, or shipping address. On October 20, 2014, U.S. consumers could start using Apple Pay in stores with their iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus (and later Apple Watch) and within apps using iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. By March 2015, Apple Pay was accepted in 700,000 retail locations including Coca-Cola vending machines. "We are the fastest adopted mobile payment service by a long shot," noted Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay. However, Cue and Bailey were aware that the landscape of mobile wallets and payment services was littered with failures. Reflecting on these challenges, Bailey wondered, "What should Apple do to continue the early momentum for the adoption and use of Apple Pay?"