The Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card is a travel rewards credit card issued by Chase. While the Bold Card was initially conceived as a no-annual-fee product for a younger target, the acquired customer base trended much older than anticipated. So it was recently reimagined with new benefits in order to appeal to prospective cardmembers who are younger and more diverse than the existing population within the brand's portfolio. This new version of the card was launched with benefits that would be particularly meaningful to an audience for whom frequent travel is a bit out of reach.
Attracting the next generation of travelers was imperative in order to realize significant growth in new cardmember acquisition and the long-term health of the business. But welcoming a younger, more diverse audience into the Marriott Bonvoy credit card portfolio required a fresh approach for this legacy brand.
We started, of course, with insights about our new target. We know Gen Z wants to travel more, but doesn’t always have the means. And while a travel rewards card can help make trips possible, traditional points systems don’t necessarily work for everyone—particularly those who spend less. To address this cohort’s desire for more flexibility, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card was reinvented with new benefits, like interest-free financing for travel purchases, and a Pay Yourself Back feature that lets cardmemembers use their points to offset the cost of flights and rooms, rather than just redeeming points for full stays. The Bold Card also introduced points-earning accelerators on new, more relevant categories for this target, like rideshares and streaming
Marketing this reinvented product to a new, younger audience required an entirely new position for the Bold card. Not to mention a new way of speaking to them, from a legacy brand that many perceive as not for them. Our integrated campaign brings fun, youthful energy to creative that breaks down card benefits in a simple way—since Gen Z is unlikely to have experience with rewards cards. “Live Your Best Trip” is the campaign’s tagline and rallying cry, which expresses the idea that simply living your life can earn you points for your next trip. Executionally, the campaign leads with social-first language and visual techniques, including footage and stills produced not only for Gen Z, but by Gen Z—enlisting a diverse team of talent both in front of and behind the camera.
As the Agency of Record for both creative and media, we guided the overarching strategy, and how we showed up in market. Our media team crafted new personas and opportunities for reaching Gen Z. We identified a unique partnership with Amazon x Twitch City Sessions concerts with the Bold Card as exclusive partner. The concerts were live, intimate events that were also live-streamed on Twitch to further our reach. Bold Card campaign videos played before and after the livestream, and branding was present at the event and in the chat. It was a powerhouse, first-to-market opportunity that shattered the record for livestream attendance and successfully engaged a younger audience in real time around a meaningful passion point.
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