Scroll down the American Express TikTok account and you’ll find a video of Ira Galtman emerging from behind a bison at the Bronx Zoo.
“Ira content makes my day,” wrote one commenter, apparently already familiar with Galtman, who as a middle-aged archivist didn’t expect to become a social media hit for the brand when he first started filming “Ira, The Archivist” videos in 2023.
“I don’t even have a cat in my video, and people are watching it! I don’t even have to dance in the video to get attention,” he said during a video call.
Galtman has been Amex’s brand archivist for three decades, documenting the company’s 176-year history and preserving its historical documents and artifacts. He was a little hesitant when the social media team first approached him about filming videos for LinkedIn, but quickly realized that he felt relatively comfortable talking about the stories he knows well on camera.
“I can be myself,” he said, adding that his authenticity is probably part of the appeal. “I don’t pretend I’m trying to be an influencer.”
Galtman’s popularity coincides with Amex’s interest in courtship younger cardholdersmany of whom are encountering brands for the first time on their social media feeds. CEO Steve Squeri said during his company’s second-quarter earnings call that millennials and Gen Zers accounted for 65% of new consumer accounts. As of January, the average age of Platinum cardholders was 33, let alone the Annual fee of $895.
‘A runaway hit’
Amex’s social team started posting Galtman’s videos on LinkedIn and Facebook, mainly for other employees but expanded to other platforms after they “were a big hit,” says Aya Kanai, head of corporate content and communications.
“Nostalgia does really well online and in social spaces,” says Kanai.
The videos were originally more focused on the artifacts, but the social media team discovered that Galtman is an important part of their appeal. They all have an endearing, almost cheerful vibe now, like a mix of vintage Americana and dad-core posts from the saner corners of the internet.
Galtman always introduces himself in his New York accent, often to “Modern Elevator Music/Cute Electronic Bossanova,” and delves into the history of an Amex-related property, occasionally raising an eyebrow about his transitional lenses. In the zoo video, Galtman explains that in 1907, Amex helped transport fifteen nearly extinct American bison from New York City to a wildlife sanctuary in Oklahoma.
Over time, the social media team has started to tie its content to specific business events – in a video celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Gold Card, Galtman, for example, talks about a 1995 dress made from the product.
As of September, Amex had posted 20 videos from Galtman, which typically perform about twice as well as the company’s social media benchmark, Kanai said. Galtman’s videos still perform best on LinkedIn, and do extremely well younger audience on TikTok. No one has stopped Galtman on the street yet, but he said colleagues in the office or cafeteria have come up to him to ask about the history of their own business line or about a recent video.
Other business leaders have also turned to social media for the right executives. Blackstone president Jon Gray, for example, goes regularly viral for his running videosAnd McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski taste-testing films from his office. Kanai said she would like to extend similar content to other Amex leaders, provided they feel comfortable on camera.
Keeping it real
However, Galtman isn’t usually thinking about engagement metrics or customer acquisition while filming, but instead makes sure he’s “feeling the content.” The same ethos applies to his appearance: he doesn’t do hair and makeup, partly because he wants to “keep it real.”
Before each video, Galtman takes time to stretch, bat away any remaining butterflies, and talk through the material in a quiet place, without his notes.
“If anyone hears me, I think they’re thinking, ‘Ira is really losing it.’ But I like to think this is not something unique to do,” he said.
Only a handful of people are present at the actual taping, urging him to smile more or coaching him with phrases that trip him up, like “stock certificates.”
Galtman’s mild social media stardom hasn’t changed his own online habits much. He still enjoys keeping up with rock and classical music and follows archive-related content on
“I can see a video and say that’s really hard to do,” he said. “A lot of it is respect for it some of the content.”
