1. Brand or Publisher? Walking the Authenticity Tightrope Jenn Eldin Digital Innovation & Content Strategy American Express OPEN @JennEldin Jennifer.C.Eldin1@aexp.com

2. An example of groundbreaking content Can brands really do this? Snow Fall is now a verb. Everyone wants to snowfall now, every day, all desks. To snowfall means to tell a story with fantastic content that is absolutely organic to the storytelling itself. The story originated from the sports desk and took months and months and months of time but Snow Fall-type projects can come from anywhere Jill Abramson, Executive Editor The New York Times Pulitzer Prize 3.5 million page views in 6 days 3. Witness: A Red Bull Explosion 3.5 million page views in 6 days 50 million page views in 4 days vs. Branded content generated 15x the engagement in 2/3 the time! 4. Nearly 60% of small businesses fail within four years. The Problem OPEN Forum is Solving 5. Power the success of small business owners OPEN Forums Mission 6. 6 195K+ Twitter Followers Forum users are 83% more likely to recommend American Express Millions of page views annually Thousands of Community Members 200+ expert contributors RELEVANCE Topics laser focused on SBO needs & interests Videos, infographics, articles, slideshows REACH A Snapshot of Forum Today 50+ pieces of content weekly Dozens of Awards 7. OPEN Forum Homepage 7 OPEN Forum Community 8. Drop the hard sell Figure out what your customer actually wants - and give it to them Be true to your strengths Dont outsource everything Content is NOT a campaign Keys to Brand Authenticity #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 9. Drop the hard sell: Set and reinforce clear guidelines Practical, actionable advice Spark curiosity Written by experts Conversational Avoid excessive brand and product mentions Guidelines for Powerful Branded Content 10. Drop the hard sell: Set and reinforce clear guidelines Description of Branded Content & OPEN Voice OPEN Voice NEW: Marked branded placements 11. To determine customer needs, we evaluated topics with these lenses. We continue to evolve the topics we cover based on real-time data. Editorial Expertise SBO Needs Research Amex Brand Fit Analytics (Web & Forum) Figure out what your customer actually wants and deliver it to them 12. Be true to your strengths 13. Dont outsource everything 14. Pick a core benchmark, and monitor it consistently. Set a range of success. 25 100 50 Shares/PV Range of success Editorial TeamAnalytics *Illustrative * Content is NOT a Campaign Respond real-time and invest in the long haul 15. Authenticity the Warby Parker way 60% of consumers are under age 40 consult social media when making purchase decisions and care about causes-Nielsen TRUE TO THEIR STRENGHTS CUSTOMERCENTRIC SOFT SELL 16. SURPRISE AND DELIGHT TRUE TO THEIR STRENGHTS Authenticity the General Electric way ONGOING COMMITMENT TO CONTENT EXCELLENCE