John Birmingham/Discover Card/Director of Advertising/Brand ManagementJennifer Murillo/Discover/Manager of Advertising/Brand Management The primary goals of this plan were: To enhance Discover Card’s brand image through a widely publicized association with ESPN equities; to increase usage among the passion group (men 18-45); and to enhance relationships with selected merchants on campus. The plan’s secondary goal was to increase consumer acquisition of Discover Card.

Also, by helping to cement a dynamic and visible relationship between Discover Card and ESPN, Starcom hoped to help Discover Card cut through the sponsorship clutter and tie the brand with the target market’s passion for football. The television plan centered around Discover Card’s “presenting sponsorship” of ESPN College Gameday. The plan included bonus 60-second branding per show, 30-second spots aired during live college football games on ESPN, continuous sponsorship presence on ESPN’s SportsCenter, sponsorship of the “Discover Card Halftime Report” on ESPN Regional, and sponsorship of the “Friday Night Classic Tailgate presented by Discover Card” on ESPN Classic. ESPN also agreed to Discover Card’s participation in the development of promotional spots, as well as post-sell messages that aired in Bowl Championship Series games. The culmination of the promotion/sweepstakes, “Discover Gets You on Gameday,” was an on-air presentation of the winner in the New Year’s Day telecast of Gameday.In addition to ESPN, Discover Card also sponsored select ABC football events, giving the brand Bowl Championship Series participation, a Rose Bowl pre-game sponsorship, billboards, and the ability to hand-pick regular season college game participation for maximum exposure in the highest rated telecasts.

Both ESPN and ABC consistently over delivered for the client, resulting in an even higher level of visibility and an even better return on investment. Starcom was also able to give the client a pricing advantage by leveraging an overall upfront TV buy.Starcom also used the media buy to secure a unique, added-value television and PR opportunities, including the Discover Card Tailgate Roadshow, centered around a 48-foot, graphic wrapped Discover Card tractor-trailer that, when unfolded, replicated the ESPN Gameday studio set. On game day and the days before, fans were encouraged to join the broadcast and participate in a variety of other football-related games and activities at the site.

Grandstand seating also accompanied the Discover Card truck, with tickets available to fans providing a recent Discover Card receipt, acquired within the past 24 hours. This promoted measurable results to the Discover Card client. The Discover Card Tailgate alone captured over 1.2 million impressions and almost 60 percent of attendees surveyed said the Discover Card Tailgate “positively impacts my opinion of Discover Card.”Discover Card also sponsored promotion/ sweepstakes both online and on-air around the successful “Discover Gets You on Gameday,” which picked a winning Discover cardholder to appear on the New Year’s Day Bowl Gameday, and provided the top 25 winners with valuable prize packages, including compact video cameras. When Discover Card set out to build its brand image with men ages 18 to 45, the Starcom media team showed them exactly how to tackle that objective: college football, the place millions of men turn their televisions each weekend in the fall.

Starcom helped Discover Card get off the sidelines and into the game by developing a multi-faceted, deeply integrated television partnership with the leader in game-day college broadcasts, ESPN, and its College Gameday program. It’s a relationship that went far beyond program entitlement to include such events as on-campus tailgates, sweepstakes promotions and a host of free publicity. Leveraging its position and expertise to generate added value for the client, the Starcom media team secured a package with a net worth of more than twice the client’s actual cost. By deploying its full resources and creativity on behalf of the client, Starcom was able to hit every goal of the campaign, while providing the client with a remarkable return on investment. The Discover Card/ESPN Gameday television partnership shows how Starcom helped its client “get in the game” by planning, negotiating and executing a multi-faceted brand-building campaign – one that delivered millions of dollars in added value. •Television (both national and regional)•Magazine – with premium positioning•Internet – home of the Sweepstakes with DiscoverCard.com linkage•Radio – broadcasts from the Discover Card Tailgate RoadshowAt the heart of the campaign was an integrated relationship between Discover Card and ESPN that allowed Discover to wrap its brand around the College Gameday television property for the duration of the college football season. But the relationship went far beyond simple logo placement or promotional announcements. The goal of the plan was to form an inseparable partnership in the audience’s mind between Discover and Gameday. As a result, the traditional television sponsorship branched out to include highly successful satellite vehicles like a travelling road show and on-site tailgate party at featured games, as well as a Rose Bowl sweepstakes promotion.

Overall, the campaign delivered more than 560 million impressions during its run, adding value of $4 million while providing a remarkable net return on investment to Discover Card of 161%.

When Discover Card set out to build its brand image with men ages 18 to 45, the Starcom media team showed them exactly how to tackle that objective: college football, the place millions of men turn their televisions each weekend in the fall.

Starcom helped Discover Card get off the sidelines and into the game by developing a multi-faceted, deeply integrated television partnership with the leader in game-day college broadcasts, ESPN, and its College Gameday program. It’s a relationship that went far beyond program entitlement to include such events as on-campus tailgates, sweepstakes promotions and a host of free publicity. Leveraging its position and expertise to generate added value for the client, the Starcom media team secured a package with a net worth of more than twice the client’s actual cost. By deploying its full resources and creativity on behalf of the client, Starcom was able to hit every goal of the campaign, while providing the client with a remarkable return on investment.