"Own The Moment" This Holiday Season

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile is essential for retailers this holiday season. Express takes a mobile-first mentality to align with the fast-paced, mobile- and social-centric lives of its customers. The theme of this year's Holiday campaign is "Own the Moment" and, for the customer, the moment is mobile.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130910/NY76292LOGO )

Here's how Express is doing it:

• PAY WITH IT – NO CARDS NECESSARY! In a first-to-market in the specialty apparel space Express has updated its app to provide an even better experience for Express NEXT Credit Cardholders. Once enrolled, cardholders can use their mobile device instead of their plastic credit card to make a purchase at Express. This makes the experience easier, faster and, frankly, cooler. Cardholders can also easily review account information such as current open-to-buy and payment due date, and can even make a payment right from their phones. The app is available for download from both Apple iTunes and Google Play. The update has been provided in partnership with GPShopper and Alliance Data.
• SAVE, SAVE, SAVE! DIGITALLY!  Each holiday season, Express circulates a Passbook of Savings with coupons to keep customers coming back throughout the season. This year, in addition to handing out booklets in stores, Express is making available a digital version of the Passbook. Customers can opt in to receive it via www.express.com/blackfriday. Each coupon within the Passbook will be sent via Rich Media Messaging (similar to SMS, but with images & longer-form texts). From within that message, customers can save the coupon to their Passbook (iOS only) and/or set a calendar reminder before the offer expires. They can also share it to Facebook or tweet it to their followers.
• OWN THE MOMENT SWEEPSTAKES! To drive the seasonal "Own the Moment" campaign, as well as further develop its mobile database, Express is running a sweepstakes in which one lucky winner will receive the ultimate New Years' Eve in New York City with three of his or her friends. The Grand Prize includes airfare, hotel, dinner on New Years' Eve, a $1,000 Express shopping spree (plus an additional $500 for each of the winners' friends) and VIP access to a Times Square New Years' Eve party. The primary method of entry is mobile: customers text keyword NYE to 397-737 to be officially entered for their chance to win. All entrants have the opportunity to receive Express coupons throughout the Holiday Season. Additionally, Express has woven in engagement layers that are mobile-focused: customers can earn extra entries at any time before the sweepstakes closes on December 11 by taking and sharing a selfie on Twitter or Instagram using the official hash tag #EXPownit. Full details of the sweepstakes can be found at http://po.st/EXPNYE13.
• PROXIMITY PERKS! Express continues to leverage the geo-location and push notification features within its mobile app to deliver location-based offers for our guy and girl on-the-go. The Proximity Perks program alerts customers who are within a designated proximity to one of our stores that there is a sale or offer available. Customers have the option of loading the Perks to their Wish List in the app for easy redemption at POS. These Perks, which facilitate real-time communication with our customers, are consistent drivers of store traffic and sales.
• TEXT ME AN OFFER! Express continues to send quick-hit of information (e.g. a coupon)  to customers' phones when they shop in our stores. It's a great way to deliver our marketing messages to the customer in their moment of need. To receive our mobile alerts, customers simply text the word START to 397-737.
• IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU! All of Express' digital touch points are built with customer mobile-centric behavior in mind. For example, Express emails are optimized for reading on mobile devices, social content is designed for "bite-sized" on-the-go consumption, and Express has invested in mobile display programs like Pandora and Hulu mobile video.

AND FINALLY… Express now releases a monthly digital catalog for tablets, which is also  showcased in our stores equipped with iPads. The digital lookbook features a mix of editorial, behind-the-scenes content as well as shoppable new arrivals and can be downloaded on iPad via the Newsstand (search "EXPSTYLE").

Express is a specialty apparel and accessories retailer of women's and men's merchandise, targeting the 20 to 30 year old customer. The Company has over 30 years of experience offering a distinct combination of fashion and quality for multiple lifestyle occasions at an attractive value addressing fashion needs across work, casual, jeanswear, and going-out occasions. The Company currently operates over 600 retail stores, located primarily in high-traffic shopping malls, lifestyle centers, and street locations across the United States, in Canada and in Puerto Rico. Express merchandise is also available at franchise stores in the Middle East and Latin America. The Company also markets and sells its products through the Company's e-commerce website, www.express.com.

SOURCE Express