The American Express originally is a US business, which was founded back in the year of 1850. Presently, the American Express has grown to be a global leader in providing personal and corporate clients with charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, business services, insurance and international banking services. The American Express has not only a long and full of success history of business development, but also this company has a history of advertising success.

In the year of 2002 the American Express deepened its engagement and commitments to small and middle size businesses and created its OPEN Small Business Network from the American Express department. This new AXP department was created to provide its small business clients with an enhanced range of products, tools, services, savings and rewards, so that the American Express would be able to better assist business owners, managing their cash flow.

Launching the OPEN, the AXP also created and launched special advertising and promotional campaign for it. This advertising campaign, created for the company by the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, represents some new for the AXP way of advertising. This advertising campaign is carried out through the television sponsorship. The American Express became a sponsor partner of "the Restaurant", an unscripted drama series, premiered on the NBC network. "The restaurant" is the Rocco DiSpirito reality show, where this rising star is working on the realization of his dream and opens his private Manhattan restaurant. This Rocco DiSpirito show is produced by Mark Burnett of Mark Burnett Productions, Reveille's Ben Silverman and Magna Global Entertainment's Robert Riesenberg.

Together with sponsoring the Rocco DiSpirito show, the OPEN also launched an integrated marketing campaign, which includes television, radio and web site advertising. People at the AXP believe that such sponsorship advertising campaign is not only a successful marketing strategy, but also may represent something that would noticeably benefit their small business owner clients. From the Rocco DiSpirito reality show people would be able to learn many useful things for their own businesses, since in the course of launching his business, Rocco DiSpirito had to face and deal with some of common issues other small business owners had to deal with.

Moreover, this AXP advertising campaign has an online support through its web site, where people cannot only read Rocco DiSpirito's blogs, but also can commune with him and share their personal opinions and experience. Together with the advertising trailers, which go with the show, the AXP also provides its OPEN department with an opportunity to demonstrate many of its financial services and products through the Rocco DiSpirito show. Those products are being used by Rocco DiSpirito during the reality show series in the course of starting and running his business.