Agenda

• RESEARCH• INSIGHTS• THE CAMPAIGN–Newsworthy Idea–Media Involvement

RESEARCH

Previous Media Coverage in 2013

• Main Topics– Advocacy from CFPB for restructuring

and loan protection– J.P. Morgan Chase Exiting Industry– Issues with loan repayment and debt

relief– Advice for college-bound students– Legislators seeking action– Statistics from Discover Student Loan

Survey

National

Media

Outlet Coverage Loans DSL

WSJ Most mentions of Discover Student LoansFinancial related news X X

Chicago Tribune

“Discover Graded on Student Loans” – positive article

Insight: “biggest college worry is student loan debt”

X X

APOne mention: cited 5 percent growth, but also stated that private loans tend to have

higher interest rates X X

Millennial

Media

HuffPost Blog post by Jodi OkunMore than 1,000 articles about student loans X X

BuzzFeedInvestigation by CFPB

“18 Things that are Easier than Paying Off Student Loans”

X X

HerCampus

Previous partnership with SimpleTuition.com“The Hidden Costs of College & How to

Budget for Them”X

U.S. News & World Report

Consistent amount of coverage, articles are read as the company is well known for its

college rankings X

“Young people do not want to entrust the decision about what’s news to the editors or one geographically proximate newspaper or another mainstream media outlet. They want to decide for themselves via specialized streams.”

Survey by DoSomething.org

INSIGHTS

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS

• Customer service• Attention to responsible lending• Directly work with universities

WEAKNESSES

• Third ranking in market• Higher interest rates

OPPORTUNITIES

• Recent product growth• Increase in media coverage• New student audience

THREATS

• Overall perception of loans• CFPB Investigation (regulation)

THE CAMPAIGN

Dream with Discover

Goal

To enhance the reputation of Discover Student Loans

so that it is a leading option for funding tuition

among U.S. college students.

Objectives• To obtain favorable mentions in at least 75 percent of Discover

Student Loans’ media coverage by September 1, 2015.

• To generate one million media impressions about Discover Student Loans’ campus event panels from media outlets, with a target audience between the ages of 17 and 25, by September 1, 2015.

• To engage 2,000 students between the ages of 17 and 25 in Twitter conversations with the hashtag #DreamwithDiscover by September 1, 2015.

• To generate a 15 percent increase in applications for Discover Student Loans by September 1, 2015.

THE NEWSWORTHY IDEA

Event Panels

5 Cities 25 Panelists

Media Opportunities

WebinarsExclusive Interviews

Celebrity Moderator#Dream With Discover

Scholarship Contest

2 weeks to Tweet

1 Month to

submit

100 Finalists

5 Winners

#Dream With Discover $10,000 Scholarship

MEDIA INVOLVEMENT

Outlets

Tyler KingkadeHuffPost College

• Associate Editor• Higher education &

millennials• Educated & informal• “The Me Generation”

response• Pitch: exclusive panelist

interviews

Stephanie KaplanHer Campus

• Co-founder, CEO, Editor-in-Chief

• Large reach• Career planning & financial

advice• Scholarships• Pitch: “Dream with

Discover” exclusive

PRESS MATERIALS

Dream with Discover tab on Student Loan website

•Media Alerts•News Releases•Backgrounders

Measurement & Evaluation

• Amount of coverage generated in national and local news outlets between March 1, 2015 and September 1, 2015, with particular emphasis on outlets that were pitched and received information about the “Dream with Discover” campaign.

• Tone of coverage generated in national and local news outlets between March 1, 2015 and September 1, 2015.

• Number of tweets that include the hashtag “#Dream with Discover”.

• Tone of tweets surrounding the “Dream with Discover” scholarship contest.

• Number of entries in the “Dream with Discover” scholarship.

• Number of applications to Discover Student Loans between March 1, 2015 and September 1, 2015.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

- Eleanor Roosevelt