Chase Building a Brand Community for its Sapphire Card

I recently got a Chase Sapphire card. It had all of the benefits I was looking for in terms of mileage, no black-out dates, rental car coverage, insurance, etc. In other words, it seemed to have value to me. I got it to replace another card from another company that offered the same benefits, but did not offer much in the way of customer service to go with it.

What has surprised and impressed me is the brand community orientation of Chase. It has recognized that a credit card can be more than a credit card. When you think about the credit card category, it is fairly easy for the cards to differentiate value according to the segment. In other words, those with certain income can get better benefits than others because the risk to the card company is lowered. So, it is difficult for card companies to maintain a differentiation that is sustainable.

I have always believed and keep telling my students that customer service and community can be sustainable differentiators, if done well. Chase is doing this well. It was a surprise to me. I did not know or expect what I would get, but I am really pleased.

The first Chase benefit was before Christmas. Chase worked with a group of Philadelphia downtown retailers along a major shopping street to offer a discount to those using the Sapphire card. To go with it, if you spent $100 or more in total for the day, free parking at several downtown indoor garages was thrown in.

The next benefit came yesterday. I was invited to a dinner and film at a local restaurant with a discussion afterward with the actress Isabella Rosselini. The cost was only $50 per person, less than the price per person at this restaurant.

Chase is now advertising that it is the one card that has real people answering the phone rather than going through "call sequencing hell" (press 1 for new business, 2 for current billing, 3 if you are getting totally frustrated, 4 if you want to strangle someone by now....). Another brand benefit.

What Chase is doing reminds me of what American Express did when it introduced its card as a card with "special benefits". It was the card for the "upper class", a distinguishing mark for those who carried it. It was the card of business. It was serious. It said that you had arrived. It was differentiated on what we might call social image or ego from Mastercard or Visa. Over time, American Express lost that distinctiveness, so it started offering Platinum and Black cards to further differentiate the carrier. But, these came with a cost to those who carried them. You paid to become a member of the "club".

Chase has found an interesting brand positioning. It is a Visa card, which means that it can come with limited or no fee to the user. But, instead of just being another card, it has become a true brand--one that brings its carriers together and offers them a sense of community and special invitation.

Can others do this and cut the differentiation now held by Chase? Of course they can, but with the current credit crisis, most will likely see this as an expensive way to grow their customer base. What they miss is the fact that Chase is doing to the credit card what Apple did to the computer. The selection is not so much between Apple and a PC as it is between a cool, relevant brand and "your father's computer".

My compliments to Chase. They are building a great brand, a community, and growing customer loyalty.