Credit One Bank Turns to Shaq for New Credit Card Campaign

Credit One Bank recently introduced a new ad campaign touting one of its most popular credit cards, the Credit One Bank Platinum X5 Visa Signature® Card. And the star of the promotions stands to help the bank spread awareness about the card’s benefits in a big way.

The company has turned to 7’1” basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, also known simply as Shaq, for help in catching the attention of prospective customers. The bank inked the former league MVP and three-time NBA Finals MVP to a two-year deal.

The O’Neal spots are running on TV and streaming on platforms including Amazon, Peacock, and YouTube, according to a recent report. 

The Credit One Bank Platinum X5 Visa Signature® Card offers consumers up to 5% cash back when they use it to make eligible purchases for expenses such as cable, gas, groceries, internet, and mobile phone services.

Only the first $5,000 in spending by a cardholder earns 5% cash back rewards. After that, they earn 1% back on eligible purchases.

With gas prices well over a dollar higher than they were at the same time last year, Credit One is betting the card’s rewards and O’Neal’s visibility will help the campaign stand out.

O’Neal’s stature makes him hard to miss. But his sense of humor is likely another reason why Credit One tapped him for its new campaign.

“We needed to bring awareness, levity, and a sense of ownability to a topic that is wildly saturated,” Amber Greenwalt, Senior Vice President of Brand and Advertising at Credit One Bank, explained in an email to Marketing Daily, a MediaPost publication covering advertising news.

O’Neal’s performance throughout his playing days made him a household name among sports fans. But his star status shines beyond the sports world, as he has appeared in many movies and also released music albums since the 1990s.

Though he retired from the NBA years ago, O’Neal has remained on sports enthusiasts’ radar as an analyst for ESPN’s “Inside the NBA” alongside Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and host Ernie Johnson. Greenwalt said that people recognize O’Neal as a down-to-earth person and that he has a passion for credit education.

Credit One isn’t the first financial institution to feature a celebrity in its ads. Capital One has run numerous spots over the years that feature popular figures such as Caitlin Clark and Samuel L. Jackson.

“Credit card banks spend 1-2% of assets each year on marketing, which is ten times the amount spent by other banks.” — Brian Shearer, Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator

Of course, famous faces aren’t likely to appear in credit card ads out of the goodness of their hearts. 

According to a report from Brian Shearer, Director of Competition and Regulatory Policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, the annual advertising budgets for Capital One and American Express in 2023 were in the same ballpark as those of major worldwide marketers such as Coca-Cola and Nike.

“Credit card banks spend 1-2% of assets each year on marketing, which is ten times the amount spent by other banks,” Shearer wrote in the report.

But if those advertising dollars can help a bank attract profitable credit card customers, the company’s leaders will likely see the strategy as a slam dunk.