Discover Launching A Feel-Good Series Of TV and Print Ads

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. took the stage Monday in New York with a new advertising campaign for its Discover card.

With fanfare reminiscent of a Broadway show, the company previewed three "feel-good" 30-second television spots and a national print campaign, created by DDB Needham in Chicago.

The campaign, "Discover the feeling," makes an effort to appeal to viewers' emotions, much as MasterCard's "priceless moments" campaign tries to do, and focuses on Discover's prized cash-back rebate feature.

"The card market is cluttered and very competitive," said Lisa Lampert, senior vice president of marketing for the Discover Card. "Our new campaign provides emotional and logical reasons why purchasers should use their Discover Card over all other credit cards."

The TV commercials, scheduled to debut Thursday on prime-time and late- night programming, depict people making everyday purchases with their Discover card and then being transported into their own fantasys.

In one spot, a father tries to buy a big screen TV while his kids run around the store screaming. Upon handing his Discover card to the cashier, he is immediately transported into heaven, where his screaming children become angels. The commercial finishes with the father watching football and eating pizza in heaven.

The slogan: "Feel like you're in heaven now get a cash-back bonus later. Discover the feeling again and again."

The new campaign takes a different approach from other advertisements for Novus Services Inc. products, which generally feature celebrities.

Riverwoods, Il.-based Novus Services Inc., the subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter that issues Discover, is trying to position itself as having a family of brands, according to Steven J. Smith, president of S.J. Smith & Associates, a credit card consulting firm based in Scarsdale, N.Y.

"This new campaign might be another step in their branding process," Mr. Smith said. "It will make Discover more distinctive."

In past campaigns, Novus relied on celebrities to get its message across. A different advertising style is a way to differentiate products, Mr. Smith said.

Other cards issued by Novus include its upscale Private Issue portfolio, where customers choose their own card features such as a low interest rate or cash rebates and pick their own celebrity painted card design.

An additional part of Discover's new marketing campaign offers card users the chance to win an additional $100 cash rebate on purchases made on Fridays. The promotion, "FeelGood Fridays," which runs until Nov. 13, is an effort to highlight the card's showcase feature, a cash-back rebate of up to 1% on all purchases.

Analysts said this feature has helped Discover build its merchant acceptance network.

"The cash-back has a lot of appeal for people who look at the card as a pure spending vehicle," said Gary Gordon, an analyst at PaineWebber in New York.

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