How to make brand partnerships work. Lessons from American Express

Glenda McNeal is chief partner officer at American Express. Speaking at HubSpot Inbound, she revealed her strategy and shared her approach to forging deals with other brands.

“American Express is an experience and access brand, not just a credit card,” McNeal says. Music, sports, travel and retail are the focus with major deals with events like the US Open and Coachella as well as BTS Hyde Park and lounge access at venues such as the O2.

F1 is a key strategic partner that gives American Express access to over a billion sports fans, 77% of whom are reportedly under 35. F1 matches American Express’ ideal target demographic. McNeal shares that at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, half the attendees purchased their ticket on an American Express card.

Dining is another area American Express is prioritizing, and for good reason, American Express cardholders spent $100bn eating out in 2023. Along with partnership deals, American Express recently acquired restaurant booking platform Tock for $400m, which joins previously acquired booking site Resy.

American Express uses the data from its card members to find out what experiences members want and what brands to strike deals with. “We are able to actually know where they shop, how much they spend, and because we have an integrated model, we’re able to really understand how they live their lives,” McNeal says. “Data is a powerful tool. Being able to actually have the data, know how to use the data, analyze the data and then use it is where the power is.”

‘Trust takes years to build, seconds to lose’

McNeal says partnerships are about growth and innovation. Before forging a partnership, she tells brands to think long and hard about their priorities and market objectives. Then consider: “Are there ways to do it on your own, or are there ways that you can actually find synergies with other companies that can allow you to grow?”

Personality and human behavior play an integral role in partnership deals, according to McNeal.

Here she shares five key personality traits that are needed in brand deal making.

1. Listening & communication

Her primary piece of advice for creating valuable partnerships is communication, or what she calls “active listening.” In a conference room, McNeal tries to be conscious and aware of the small details of the people she is meeting with, including what they are wearing, their jewelry or their hair style, to focus on being an observer, she says.

“There is power in that because you can see how people are behaving, what their body language and facial expressions are saying,” she says. “When you’re really listening, you pick up the nuances in negotiations that serve me very well because sometimes information is really in what is not being said.”

2. Grit and resilience

Grit is the second vital attribute to making partnerships McNeal says. Growing up poor in rural America McNeal says it helped to “live with disappointments and to be resilient”. Not every deal is going to work so you need grit to deal with that.

“Not every situation is going to be favorable, and being able to pick yourself up, look beyond the disappointments and really focus in on challenges has served me well,” she says.

3. Values and integrity

Having and sticking to your values is McNeal’s third attribute. “The ability to be centered in integrity, know right and wrong and having conviction in your beliefs, allows for stability, particularly in situations where there’s a lot of uncertainty,” she says.

McNeal adds that trust is crucial to brand partnerships. “Trust takes a long time to build but seconds to lose,” she says.

4. Empathy and understanding

Empathy is one of the most valuable traits in a leader she says. “Empathy is about understanding,” McNeal says. “If I’m sitting across the table from someone, it’s equally important for me to understand what’s important to the person I’m negotiating with or having a conversation with, as it is for me to understand what’s important to me.”

She adds: “Being able to really focus in on what is most important to the other person and finding the right places to make the appropriate concessions.”

5. Knowing when to walk away

Her final word of wisdom is knowing when to walk from a deal. McNeal described a time when American Express backed out of a deal because the timing wasn’t right but then revisited the opportunity years later and made it a big success. “Sometimes the balance of trade isn’t right, sometimes the economics don’t work,” she says. “As much as you want to get a deal done you need to know when to walk away.”