Reaching Millennial Consumers - Using Financial Education as Content Marketing
bateman FINISHED
1. Marist College Bateman Team
Finance Like A Fox
Team Members:
Caroline Ferarri, Jordan Kowalski, Amanda Orzo,
Christine Ryan, and Alexandra Zoll
Faculty Advisor:
Loribeth Greenan
2. 1
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...........................................................Page 1
Situational Analysis...........................................................Page 1
Secondary Research
Phase 1.....................................................................Page 2
Phase 2.....................................................................Page 4
Target Audience................................................................Page 3
Primary Research.............................................................Page 4
Key Messages...................................................................Page 5
Challenges and Opportunities.............................................Page 5
Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics
Objective 1................................................................Page 6
Objective 2................................................................Page 8
Objective 3................................................................Page 9
Conclusion........................................................................Page 10
Appendix of Finances.........................................................Page ii
i
Executive Summary
“Popmoney®…? No, I’ve never heard of it.What’s Popmoney®?”
“Popmoney® is an online personal payment service that –”
“Oh, so it’s PayPal™...”
Not quite.
The 2014 Marist College Public Relations Student Society of America Bateman Team presents
its Finance Like a Fox campaign.The campaign sought to not only inform the Marist College
Red Foxes about PopMoney®, but also to inrease brand awareness and encourage user inter-
actions with the PopMoney® brand.The campaign summary includes detailed descriptions of
the team’s innovative research, objectives, strategies, tactics, and the results of the campaign.
PopMoney® is particularly appealing to the 18-24 year old target market. It is a personal
payment service that eliminates the hassle of cash and checks. It allows college students to
instantly send, receive, and transfer funds – no new account necessary. Unfortunately, accord-
ing to the team’s preliminary research, there was a lack of brand awareness among Marist
students within the campaign’s target market.That is, of course, until Finance Like a Fox took
social media and the Marist Rotunda by storm.
Beginning February 1st, the team implemented various events, contests, and initiated Pop-
money® -related conversations through social media.These tactics were implemented in an
effort to increase awareness of Popmoney®, to inform the target audience about the uses of
Popmoney®, and to encourage the target audience to not only interact with the Popmoney®
brand but also download the application.To accomplish these objectives, the team created an
active Twitter page and published blog posts to the campaign’s central website. An engag-
ing social media presence, interactive contests, and the distribution of consistent information
helped achieve the goal of promoting knowledge and use of PopMoney® among the Marist
Red Foxes.
The team also took advantage of the exciting events and holidays taking place during the
month of implementation. On February 12th and 13th, the team hosted a Valentine’s Day
Popmoney® event in the Marist Rotunda, where the heaviest foot traffic takes place. Students
were encouraged to send their designated payer (the friend whom always makes group
purchases) a loving message via Twitter.What else are college students doing in February?
Finalizing Spring Break plans, of course. On February 19th and 20th, the team set up shop in
the Marist Rotunda once again and held a beach themed event. At the event, students learned
why PopMoney® should be number one on their packing list, entered a Twitter photo contest,
and shared their dream Spring Break destinations.
Situational Analysis
While the PopMoney® app was not widely known according to the team’s preliminary
research, it is highly marketable to college students.The app is user-friendly, instantaneous,
3. 2 3
portable, and therefore perfect for the student on the go. By inputting bank information along
with a phone number or e-mail address, PopMoney® easily allows customers to exchange
money in an efficient manner.
There is also minimal PopMoney® social media interaction.The @popmoney official Twitter
account posted only ten times throughout the month of February.This factor may contribute to
the target audience’s unfamiliarity the app, as the 18-24 demographic relies on social media
and online advertising. Additionally, the existing PopMoney® campaign consisting primarily
of broadcast commercials isn’t popular among students.
The Marist College Bateman Team did not need to align the campaign’s messages or con-
tent with an existing PopMoney® public relations campaign. Of course, the team emphasized
many of the same appealing features that PopMoney® is proud of, while also launching their
own campaign with creative freedom. After researching PopMoney®’s competitors, the team
noted that PopMoney® is, unlike competing mobile payment services, attractive to college
students more than any other consumer demographic.
Threats to PopMoney® include Google Wallet, PayPal,Venmo, ClearXchange, and Dwolla.
These virtual payment applications and services compete with PopMoney®, but have differ-
ent target audiences. For example, in a Venmo review in Slate, writer Emma Roller calls Ven-
mo “the quintessential app for the urban professional twentysomething.”
According to the American Bankers Association, studies show that adults between the ages of
18-34 years old are driving the growth in both online and mobile banking. For instance, 66%
of college students banked online in 2013, while only 55% of them banked online in 2010.
The following statistics have been pulled from secondary sources regarding who engages in
online and mobile banking.
Secondary Research: Phase 1
Online Banking
• 51% of U.S. adults, or 61% of internet users, bank online
• 98% of 18-29 year olds are Internt users
• 67% of that age group banks online
• 92-96% of Internet users have had some college
or above a college education
• 66-67% of those students bank online
• 86% of urban and suburban residents are
Internet users
• 66-62% of these residents bank online
• 85% of men and 84% of women are Internet users
• 63% of men and 58% of women bank online
• 86% of white, non-Hispanic citizens are Internet
users
• 63% of this demographic bank online
Mobile Banking
• 32% of U.S. adults, or 35% of cell phone owners, bank using their mobile phones
• 91% of adults own a cell phone, 35% of that uses phone to transact business with a bank
• 54% of 18-29 year old cell phone users, use their
phone for online banking or checking their account
balances
• 41% of cell phone users who have recieved some
college or higher than a college education, use their
phone for online banking or checking their account
balances
• 35% of both men and women use their mobile phones
for online banking or checking their account balances
• 41% of non-white, Hispanic citizens use their mobile
phone for online banking or checking their account balances
The other aspect that we investigated was how people responded to the concept of digital
banking in itself.
• The general attitude of a person towards new technologies and innovation, has a positive
influence on the adoption of technology-based channels
• The lack of knowledge about the availability and the advantages of e-banking services is
an inhibiting factor in adoption of such channels
• Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are two basic variables that influence
the attitude, behavioral intention, and actual use of online banking systems
• Users have difficulty grasping the abstract concept of invisible or virtual money
• Customers must be provided easy access to their billing information and must be able to
navigate sources with ease and clarity
• The design and quality of digital banking sources affects the source’s crediblity
• Brand identification stands as a symbol of quality and assurance
• Re-establishing security and privacy policies and issuing guarantees make customers
more trustworthy and willing to bank digitally
Target Audience
We established our target audience to encompass college students betweent the ages of 18
and 24. These students could include those pursing an undergraduate degree and those
living both on campus or off, commuting from the surrounding towns such as Poughkeepsie,
Hyde Park, or Rhinebeck.
The Bateman Team’s main focus was on undergraduate students ages 18-24. Heres why:
• Students aged 18-24 typically make transactions with their friends. These transactions
create IOUs and with busy schedules, keeping track of your IOUs may be difficult.
4. 4 5
After defining our target audience, we hosted a team discussion to decide the most effective
way to reach our targeted age group on a college campus. We wanted to demonstrate the
different uses of Popmoney® through an easily relatable scenario. After reviewing the uses of
popmoney, we discovered that vacations were one of its practical uses. We applied the vaca-
tion concept to a college environment and ended up with Spring Break.
Here are the statistics we gathered regarding college students and Spring Break:
• 1.5 million college students attend spring break each year
• $428 million was spent online by college students buying airline tickets & booking hotels
for Spring Break in 2003
• The week of March 24 2013 saw 1.8 million students on break
• And 2013’s top 10 college spring break destinations were: 1. Panama City Beach, Fla. 2.
London 3. Paris 4. Cancun 5. Miami 6. Honolulu 7. NewYork City 8. Rome 9. Los Angeles
10. San Jos, Costa Rica
• College students typically bring along $1,000 in spending money for a two week trip
• College students travel an average of 934 miles to get to Spring Break
Secondary Research: Phase 2
Primary Research
In order to help us attract the attention of our target audience, the Marist College Bateman
Team asked Marist Students where their ideal spring break destination would be through an
informal poll. Here are the results:
• Europe (22%)
• Florida (14%)
• Hawaii (10%)
• Turks and Caicos (8%)
• Cancun (6%)
With Popmoney® students can complete their transactions right on their mobile phones in
6 seconds or less, eliminating their IOUs. This convenient and time saving method will also
help students adopt the newest technology. In addition, it will provide students with a better
understanding of online banking by learning from their experience.
Key Messages
Popmoney® is quick.
Popmoney® allows each user to send or receive cash
instanteously. Once a users information is inputted, a few
clicks later a person can request or receive any payment
directly into their account. The time saved by electronically
banking could be spent and focused more toward other
tasks that need to be completed in everyones busy lives and hectic schedules.
Popmoney® is convenient.
With Popmoney®, there is no hassle of checkbooks, envelopes, stamps, or time wasted
going to the post office or bank itself. In addition, in such a technologically prevalent so-
ciety, most people are already on their phones and using their mobile devices frequently
throughout the day for various reasons.
Popmoney® should be on your mind for any group purchase.
Dining in large groups or embarking on group vacations occur frequently. Dealing with
loose change and breaking large bills can cause confusion and chaos. With Popmoney®,
paying your your share or what you owe is much more simpler when there is no physical
cash exchanged.
Popmoney® fosters a green environment.
Without paper checks, paper money, and the gas needed to travel back and forth to the
bank or a post office, the community will be much greener and cleaner.
Challenges and Opportunities
Challenge
Many Marist College students are unaware of online and mobile person-to-person pay-
ment systems and low brand awareness for Popmoney®.
Opportunity
Increase target audience’s knowledge of person-to-person payment systems by promot-
ing the Popmoney brand, so it becomes their primary method for mobile and online pay-
ments.
Challenge
With Marist’s Spring Break a month away, we learned that many students had already
made their vacation plans and purchased their tickets and hotels.
Opportunity
Encourage the use of the Popmoney® application for group purchases that occur during
spring break vacations for additional, unplanned purchases.
5. 6 7
Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics
create a buzz for our event. Once students have stopped to determine what is occuring, we
will provide passerbys with Popmoney® applications on Valentine’s Day. For instance, if they
go out with a group of friends for dinner, they can divide the bill by each paying their amount
to the designated payer or pay someone back for snacks if two people go to a movie.
Tactic 3: Plan and execute a “Spring Break Event” a month before Marist’s Spring Break to
educate students on the uses of Popmoney in planning a vacation and using the Popmoney®
application while on vacation. We attracted students to our event by asking them where their
ideal Spring Break location would be. We would then ask them how much they thought it
would cost to go on such a vacation and if they were aware of the personal payment service.
We explained that students could pay their dues for transportation costs, hotel reservations,
or food purchases to their appointed designated payer or trip planner.
Strategy 2: Create digital outlets for students to support Popmoney® at Marist.
RATIONALE - According to Epsilon,18-25 year olds are extremely receptive to digital
marketing.
Tactic 1: Create and design a website
(www.financelikeafox.com) for Marist
students to reference if they want to seek
more information about ongoing campus
events and general information about the
basics of Popmoney®.
Tactic 2: Create and activate a social media account via Twitter (@FinanceLikeAFox) that
work in congruency with the website. Our tweets issued reminders to Marist students about
Popmoney® related events and how they could find out more about Popmoney®.
Evaluation of Objective 1 - EXCEEDED
The number of participants during our Valentines Day Event: 43
The number of participants during our Spring Break Event: 51
Prior to our two events, we had 38 Twitter followers.
Prior to our two events, we had 77 website visits.
Challenge
Inclement weather was predicted for the days we planted to implement our events.
Opportunity
Draw more attention and followers to our Twitter account through additional messages and
promotions that were only available online.
Challenge
During our investigation of the Popmoney® brand, we observed that they had a limited and
poor presence on social media, due to negative feedback on Facebook and lacke of activity
on Twitter.
Opportunity
Create our own positive social media presence for Popmoney® for our student audience.
Objective 1: To increase Popmoney® brand awareness throughout Marist college students
ages 18-24.
Strategy 1: Plan and implement two events that demonstrate the use of Popmoney® that are
relatable to students in our target demographic and appropriately timed during our period of
implementation.
RATIONALE – With so many holidays, birthdays, and vacations, college students need
to know how to budget and spend their money in the most manageable way possible.
Tactic 1: Choose to hold the event in the Marist Rotunda from 5-7 p.m. when there is an influx
of students in order to reach the most people with our message.
Tactic 2: Plan and execute a “Valentine’s Day Event” during the week of February 14th to
educate students on the uses of Popmoney® for activities during this holiday. We attracted
students to our event by providing Valentine chocolates and guitarists that play love songs to
6. 8
Objective 2: Inform the target audience about the convenient uses
of Popmoney®.
Strategy 1: Unify campaign content on an easily accessible website www.financelikeafox.com
throughout the month of February.
RATIONALE - Because credibility is a common concern, presenting brand information
in a legitimate location increases Popmoney’s transparency and reaffirms its security.
Tactic 1: Since Buzzfeed is a popular website among our target audience, we developed our
own edition of humorous GIFs accompanied by facts about Popmoney and its convenience
under a variety of circumstances.
Tactic 2: Activate a “More About Popmoney®” page highlighting Popmoney®’s credibility
and ease of use. On this page we highlighted the background of Fiserv®’s Popmoney®, how
once can use it, and the simple steps for downloading the application.
Strategy 2: Create, display, and distribute branded print advertisements at campaign events
and throughout the school’s most populated student areas during our implementation.
RATIONALE - In an effort to garner excitement and anticipation for events, our team
decided to post flyers.
Tactic 1: Produce flyers to hang up around the
Marist community, in academic buildings and
resident areas, containing each event’s information
to garner excitement and anticipation for our events.
Tactic 2: Provide team-constructed “To-Go”
Popmoney® Fact Sheets for event attendees.These
“To-Go” Fact Sheets contained a condensed description
of Popmoney® and a simplified three-step process of
registering and downloading the app.
Evaluation of Objective 2 - EXCEEDED
Website views: 176 pageviews in 28 days
Visitor demographics: 61% of our visitors were
ages 18-34
Total event flyers & “To-Go” Fact Sheets hung and
distributed: 150
Total Popmoney stickers distributed: 100
9
Objective 3: Encourage members of our target audience to interact with Popmoney®
brand.
Strategy 1: Use social media to improve the relationship between the brand and its followers
throughout the course of the month.
RATIONALE - Based on the brand’s existing Facebook comments and lack of activity
on Twitter, it is evident that Popmoney® struggles to positively connect with its users.
By increasing activity on social media, our team effectively fostered a successful two-
way communication process between Popmoney® and the target audience.
Tactic 1: Establish the Twitter account @FinanceLikeAFox and double our followers by
reaching 100 followers by February 28th, 2014.
Tactic 2: Introduce the Penny Jar Guessing contest at
both themed events. Members of the target audience had
the opportunity to guess just how many pennies were in the
penny jar.The winner with the closest guess won all the money
in the jar, which amounted to $33.43.
Tactic 3: Encourage participation in the Valentine’s Day Punny
Message contest. Each Twitter follower was able to tweet a clever
Valentine’s Day-related message to the @FinanceLikeAFox account.
The person with the most retweeted message won a Bluetooth speaker. Such a prize reflects
that our target audience heard our message loud and clear.
Tactic 4: Offer a Spring Break Survival Kit as a prize for a photo contest to promote the use
of Popmoney® for group purchases.Twitter followers were given the opportunity to tweet a
picture that reflected their Spring Break mindsets.The person with the most retweeted photo
won the Spring Break Survival Kit containing snacks and other beach essentials.
7. 10
Evaluation of Objective 3 - EXCEEDED
Number of Tweets that we produced: 85
Number of followers by February 28th, 2014: 100
Highest number of Retweets & Favorites for Each Contest Winner:
• Valentine’s Day Punny Message Contest= 10 RTs, 3 Favorites
• Spring Break Survival Kit Photo= 21 RTs, 12 Favorites
Number of Total Guesses for Penny Jar: 71
Finance Like a Fox educated, encouraged and engaged.
Finance Like a Fox consisted of events and social media initiatives to reach our goals. The
team increased Popmoney® brand awareness, informed our target audience of undergradu-
ate students ages 18-24 about the convenience of the application, and prompted members of
our target audience to interact with the Popmoney® brand.
Throughout the month of implementation, the team exceeded its goals by attracting 176 page
views to the financelikeafox.com website (61% of our visitors were ages 18-34) and 100 Twit-
ter followers on the @FinanceLikeaFox account by February 28th.The circulation and distri-
bution of 150 event flyers, 150 Popmoney® “To-Go” Fact Sheets, and 100 Popmoney® stickers
created a strong influence on Marist students.
Although our campaign only lasted one month, Finance Like a Fox had a sound effect on the
Marist community.The implementation of our tactics influenced students to investigate and
download the application themselves while spreading the word to their peers.The increased
awareness in the Marist community presents this mobile banking application as a leader in
personal payment services and offers Popmoney® a promising future.
Conclusion
Appendix
ii