Discover ads highlight customer service
Discover Financial Services has launched a new US advertising campaign that uses an inept customer service representative to highlight the “superior” service it offers its own customers. 
The new advertisements aim to strike a chord with consumers who have endured poor service across industries.
Julie Loeger, senior VP of brand and product management at Discover: “These ads portray the common, frustrating experiences we’ve all faced with customer service calls and emphasize the difference good service can make. We believe that by featuring our promise to answer calls in 60 seconds or less by real people who are trained to solve problems on the first call, we will continue to differentiate ourselves to existing and prospective cardmembers.”
The television advertisements, which portray a “likable but incapable customer service representative” named Peggy. The ads 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 inability to solve problems.
The ads, which started running on August 16, will run on all four major US TV networks on popular shows such as America’s Got Talent, The Office, Parenthood and the Emmy Awards.
In contrast to Peggy’s inept approach, Discover will be introducing featured videos of real Discover customer service representatives sharing stories about their experiences helping cardmembers to solve problems. Highlights and content from this campaign, as well as from the Peggy television advertisements, will be shared via Discover’s social media channels.
“We believe, particularly at this moment in time, that customers are re-thinking what they look for in a credit card partner,” said Loeger. “Ultimately, they have a choice and do not have to settle for bad customer service. Our goal with these ads is to demonstrate to consumers that we understand their frustration with poor customer service and to encourage them to switch to Discover.”