Case Study

Case Study: American Express OPEN Capitalizes On Small Businesses' Craving For Community

OPEN Forum, A Branded Website, Grew Out Of Offline Networking Events

March 11th, 2011
Peter Wannemacher, Principal Analyst
Peter Wannemacher Principal Analyst
Brad Strothkamp, null
Brad Strothkamp
With contributors:
Beth Hoffman , Diane Clarkson

Summary

Small business owners are hungry to talk to their peers about shared needs, topics, and solutions. American Express OPEN — the small-business arm of American Express — recognized this demand and developed an online community for small businesses called OPEN Forum. Forrester spoke with Mary Ann Fitzmaurice Reilly, SVP at American Express OPEN, about the lessons learned from offline networking events and efforts to extend the community online via OPEN Forum. eBusiness professionals can learn two basic but critical lessons from American Express' OPEN Forum: 1) the tremendous value of an online community driven by client demand, and 2) the rigorous planning that goes into a successful online community.

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