How Stephen King dealt with the horror of not being recognized
When adman David Ogilvy was offered the American Express account back in 1962, he wasn't sure he wanted it. He thought Amex was too small, but the CEO of American Express invited him over to his home to at least discuss it. Ogilvy agreed. When he got there, the Amex CEO and his wife showed him into their library for a talk.
Ogilvy walked in, took a bunch of pillows off the couch, put them on the floor, laid down on them and started describing all the things he could do for American Express.
The CEO and his wife stared at Ogilvy in mild shock. But as they listened to him, they couldn't help but be intrigued, and the next thing you know, Amex had hired the man lying on the floor.
Lucky for Ogilvy, he accepted the small account, because by the 1980's, American Express had grown bigger than General Foods, Ogilvy's largest account.
American Express was founded in 1850 and began as a stagecoach delivery service. In the 1890's, the president of American Express, J. C. Fargo, went on a grand tour of Europe. To refresh his personal funds with local currency, he made visits to European banks where he presented letters of credit. It took forever to receive his cash.
He was enraged at the bureaucratic delays and paper shuffling in the banks. And if the president of American Express was kept waiting, imagine the delays suffered by an ordinary traveler.
Returning home, he directed his staff to create a payment product that could be exchanged easily, on the spot, in countries around the world. The solution was the Travelers Cheque. It was a powerful idea.
Jump to the mid-70's — with air travel increasing — American Express wanted a campaign to promote its travelers cheques.
The marketing strategy was to remind travelers that even if they had their travelers cheques stolen, American Express would replace them the same day. Ogilvy & Mather came up with a great slogan: "Don't Leave Home Without Them."
The ad agency wanted a spokesperson with some credibility and authority. At that time, one of the top TV shows was The Streets of San Francisco. It was a weekly crime drama starring a wise, experienced detective played by Karl Malden and his young sidekick, Michael Douglas.
Ogilvy hired the fedora-wearing Malden to warn viewers about the perils of traveling.
American Express embraced the word "Don't" when it played into the negative fear of losing one's cash while in a foreign country. Of course, "Don't" really meant "Do" take them with you.
"Don't Leave Home Without Them" became a monster success for American Express. The CEO attributed the massive sales of travelers cheques almost wholly to the advertising.
Karl Malden was the spokesman for American Express for 20 years. When he finally retired, Ogilvy made a smart modification to the campaign. It shifted from travelers cheques to the American Express Card itself, and featured celebrities whose names were well known, but their faces weren't.
People like author Stephen King, football coach Mike Ditka, and Jim Davis, creator of the Garfield the Cat.
Every commercial began with the line "Do you know me?" Then their name was revealed on their Amex card. The commercials ended with an updated "Don't Leave Home Without It."
Another ad featured Looney Tunes voice actor extraordinaire, Mel Blanc.
The "Don't Leave Home Without It" campaign ran until the 1990's. The phrase was used in movies, in television shows and by presidents in White House speeches. It's been used so often over the last 50 years, that many people probably have no idea it originated in an advertising campaign.
"Don't Leave Home Without It" is considered one of the best slogans of the 20th century.
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