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Discover Financial Services is ramping up marketing for its Spend Analyzer tool, which it launched late last year as a way for cardholders to track their Discover card spending. Discover is running an integrated media campaign, which includes TV, print, online and cardholder communications, Larisa Drake, the card brand's vice president of brand communications, tells CardLine. The campaign started Feb. 16 and runs through the end of March. TV ads are running on major channels, such as NBC, ABC and CBS, and on such high-profile cable channels as TBS, A&E and the Travel Channel. Spots run during morning shows and during evening prime time, says Drake. TV ads also run on broadband channels such as hulo.com and TV network Web sites that broadcast its shows online. Online banner ads launched last week on such sites as America Online, Smartmoney.com and About.com. "The target is broad from a media standpoint," says Drake. "The message is focusing on how all our cardmembers can benefit from using the Spend Analyzer tool." Ron Shevlin, senior analyst at Boston-based Aite Group, says Discover's effort to promote personal financial tools is a smart move. The product will not necessarily bring in new customers, but it is a way to demonstrate consumer advocacy so cardholders can better manage their finances and become engaged with and more loyal to the Discover brand, Shevlin said. "Smart marketers are looking for ways to engage the customer in meaningful ways," he says. "Providing tools that help them make smart financial decisions is way to do that." Studies show that consumers who believe their financial institutions are helping them are more loyal because the company is doing what's right for them, says Shevlin. "This investment in consumer advocacy will pay off for Discover in the long run," he says.
