The company has partnered with Zumobi to run the interactive Membership Effect campaign. The mobile ad campaign features an app within an app experience and incorporates video, user generated content, and social media integration that centers around educating consumers about the Membership Effect effort from American Express.

“American Express is partnering with Zumobi to mobilize their Membership Effect campaign,” said John SanGiovanni, cofounder and vice president of product design at Zumobi, Seattle.

“The mobile ad campaign creates a tailored timeline of images customized to each user,” he said. “Based on responses to a set of interactive prompts in the experience, users create a personalized panorama that is tailored to their interests in shopping, dining, electronics or travel.

American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences.

Zumobi is a mobile media company publishes applications and provides integrated advertising experiences on next-generation smartphones and connected devices.

Relevant content
Via the mobile ad campaign, consumers can sync their eligible American Express Card with their Facebook, Twitter or foursquare accounts.

From there, users can unlock exclusive savings at select restaurants and retailers.

A campaign such as this is a great way to drive consumer engagement by offering relevant and tailored content to users.

As technology progresses, so do user tastes. Consumers expect more from their favorite brands and retailers.

Mobile advertising is a good way to drive that awareness and deliver relevant content.

“The Membership Effect campaign started this spring with hilarious TV commercials starring Aziz Ansari and now American Express is working with Zumobi and MindShare to take the campaign mobile,” Mr. SanGiovanni said.

“By engaging consumers through a personalized experience via UGC and social networking, we’re hoping to gain campaign awareness and increase brand engagement organically,” he said.

Overall efforts
American Express has been paving the way in the mobile space.

Last year, the company offered a new mobile service to help businesses and traveling employees quickly and efficiently change travel plans that have been disrupted by the weather or other unforeseen events (see story).

Most recently, American Express rolled out a new mobile offers service that recommends and ranks relevant merchant deals based on a cardmember’s spending history and location (see story).

“With Gartner predicting that mobile advertising will be a 20.6 billion dollar market by 2015, countless companies are popping up and soliciting easy ways for brands to scale ad campaigns for mobile devices,” Mr. SanGiovanni said.

“However, captivating user’s attention instantaneously is not a simple equation,” he said. “Establishing a successful mobile campaign takes vision, insight and creativity.

“As devices become more intuitive, so must our communication. Through true brand integration and rich-media mobile ads can present engaging experiences that create emotional ties with consumers.”

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York