After Northwest Airlines (NWA) was purchased by Delta and the merger was underway, a battle started in the Twin Cities to win over NWA WorldPerks credit cardholders. With US Bank (former NWA partner) and American Express (Delta's partner) at odds, American Express hired LaBreche to reach the bulk of WorldPerks credit cardholders residing in Minnesota and Wisconsin to inform and educate them about their choices, to ultimately bring them on as new Delta SkyMiles cardholders.
LaBreche saw that WorldPerks credit cardholders were confused. They were being inundated with a steady stream of marketing materials but didn't know what to believe: US Bank had created a generic credit card in an attempt to hang on to cardholders, and American Express had the Delta SkyMiles card. LaBreche conducted an ongoing and aggressive media relations campaign across Minnesota and Wisconsin, giving consumers answers to their questions while informing them of the benefits of the Delta SkyMiles card.
American Express far surpassed their internal goals for Delta SkyMiles credit card acquisitions, exceeding internal forecasts by almost 70 percent within 4 months. Moreover, three-quarters of these new accounts were US Bank customers who made the choice to acquire an American Express Delta SkyMiles card. American Express labeled the campaign an "excellent success."
