financial services

Discover Promises To Be The Anti-'Peggy'

Discover

A new campaign from Discover Financial Services is meant to resonate with consumers who are fed up with almost ubiquitous poor customer service.

The effort, from the Riverwoods, Ill.-based financial services company, will remind viewers of some of the most common and frustrating experiences with customer service calls, such as long hold times, excessive call transfers and the rep's inability to solve problems.

Three TV spots, the first of which broke earlier this week, star a likable but incapable customer service representative named "Peggy." The campaign includes the company's promise to answer calls in 60 seconds or less by real people who are trained to solve problems on the first call.

The spots will run on all four major networks on shows such as "America's Got Talent," "The Office," "Parenthood" and the Emmy Awards. They will also run during the season premieres of "The Amazing Race," "Mike & Molly," "Undercover Boss," "The Event," "Chase," "Outsourced" and "Outlaw." And, they'll be featured throughout Discover's sponsorship of all Notre Dame home football games on NBC, as well as during the Discover Halftime Report.

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The "Peggy" campaign is part of the company's existing marketing effort to communicate its core card member benefits, which include customer service and a cash rewards program, says Julie Loeger, Discover's SVP of brand and product management. "We see these ads as an opportunity to deepen our relationship with existing card members and build greater awareness among non-card members," she tells Marketing Daily.

In contrast to Peggy's inept approach, Discover will introduce videos of real Discover customer service representatives sharing stories about their experiences helping card members. Highlights and content from this campaign, as well as from the "Peggy" television spots, will be featured on Discover's social media channels. The campaign was developed in collaboration with The Martin Agency.

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