GAIL WASSERMAN
COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT
During a +25-year career at American Express, Gail retired in 2018 as a Senior Vice President. During her tenure she managed communications for virtually every business at the global lifestyle brand including its Consumer, Global Corporate and Merchant Services groups — as well as its Global Advertising and Sponsorship divisions. In addition, she announced major company news including significant partnerships and the succession of Ken Chenault, the first Black CEO to run a Dow 30 company. Gail also led communications teams in Europe, Asia and the U.S., and managed issues related to privacy, bankruptcy and other consumer protection developments. Perhaps most important, she helped manage the reputation of a Fortune 100 company during a dynamic time for brands, media and popular culture.
As a marketer, Gail has led communications for some of the company’s most successful initiatives including:
Small Business Saturday, an international movement to drive local sales to small businesses during the year’s busiest shopping season. In 2018, 7500 U.S. communities rallied local businesses and created events that drove millions of consumers to shop at small businesses and generate billion in sales on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Support also included an avalanche of press coverage with +25,000 media placements—ranging from top-tier to hyper local and online news sources.
(RED), a non-profit that partners with brands to help fund the fight to end AIDS in Africa. In 2006, American Express became the founding sponsor of (RED) and helped launch the initiative in Davos—collaborating with celebrities like Bono and Giorgio Armani, iconic consumer brands like the Gap and Converse, and selecting the philanthropic beneficiary, the Global Fund, which to date has received more than $700 million in aid from the (RED) campaign.
The Luxury Roundtable, an annual invitation-only forum at which 25 CEOs heading the world’s top global luxury brands exchanged ideas and discussed emerging trends in the travel, hospitality, retail and technology sectors.
