AMERICAN
EXPRESS
🏆 2018 Best in Brand Award
🏆 2019 Global Award for Innovation
American Express, one of the world’s most established financial institutions, found itself facing a generational brand gap. While its heritage resonated with an older audience, the brand struggled to connect with younger professionals and the future of its customer base.
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Internally, the brand was fragmented. Global markets interpreted guidelines in their own way, leading to inconsistent execution across platforms and regions. Amex needed more than a rebrand; it needed a modern, digital-first identity system that could bring global cohesion while unlocking new relevance with a younger, mobile-first audience.
Disciplines: Creative Direction, Brand Strategy, Workshop Delivery
Client: American Express
Collaborators: Ogilvy London, Pentagram, McCann, Mint Creative
Role & Scope
American Express brought in multiple global agencies to reimagine their brand for a digital-first future. Pentagram led the logo redesign, McCann developed campaign visuals, and Ogilvy held the production remit. My team at Mint Creative was tasked with making it all work together.
We acted as the connective tissue across these streams, collaborating with each agency and Amex’s senior leadership to unify the creative vision. I led the development of a comprehensive brand guideline and global launch campaign, transforming a fragmented system into a cohesive and scalable identity. Our work ensured consistency across every touchpoint, digital, physical, and beyond.
Strategy & Insight
Interviews with regional marketers revealed a recurring frustration: the brand felt inconsistent and unmoored. One APAC team member admitted, “We ended up redesigning the logo ourselves because the guidelines didn’t fit our digital needs.” This fragmentation risked eroding global trust.
We crafted a modular brand system with fixed pillars but flexible execution, paired with an online training platform to empower markets. The goal was simple: build trust through consistency while allowing regional teams room to speak locally.
Execution
To bring the brand to life consistently across markets, we led the creation of a centralised, modular system built for scale. Working alongside Pentagram, McCann and Ogilvy, we distilled their contributions into a single, cohesive brand identity, one that felt modern and digital-first while still rooted in Amex’s heritage.
We designed a global set of brand guidelines that codified everything from type hierarchy to motion principles. To overcome legacy inconsistencies, we replaced loosely interpreted illustration rules with a vetted, ready-to-use asset library. A flexible email system was developed using drag-and-drop code blocks paired with matching design templates in Sketch and Photoshop.
Every touchpoint was considered. From animated banners and paid social to OOH and print collateral, we shaped a campaign framework that could flex across card tiers and regional needs without diluting the core identity. Coordination happened through campaign squads, cross-agency, cross-functional teams that met weekly to maintain creative integrity and clear roadblocks.
When the brand was ready, we didn’t just hand over guidelines; we travelled across key regions to deliver in-person workshops and rolled out an internal training platform to embed the new system globally.
Impact & Reflection
The global launch unified Amex’s visual identity, ending years of disjointed execution. Weekly campaign squad meetings became a model for cross-agency collaboration, smoothing rollout and speeding decision-making. Internal feedback called the training “game-changing,” helping marketers feel confident rather than constrained.
The system’s success extended beyond the initial rollout adopted across related platforms; it remains the backbone of Amex’s global brand strategy.
