Integrated Marketing Campaign Proposal - Synchrony Financial Business Leadership Program (July 2016)

Business Leadership Program:
Shaping Today's Innovative Minds Into Tomorrow's Leaders
Synchrony Financial Campaign Proposal. Copyright © 2016. Corp2CollegeCommunications, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL.
Corp2College Communications, Inc.| 2295 LongVista Lane, Dayton, OH 45324 | www.corp2college.com
JULY 2016
An integrated marketing campaign proposal to increase awareness of the
Business Leadership Program and strengthen the Synchrony Financial employer
brand in the minds of today’s Millennials.

Mr. Stephen Kennedy
Vice President, Leadership Programs
Synchrony Financial
777 Long Ridge Road
Stamford, CT 06902-1250
July 13, 2016
Dear Mr. Kennedy,
On behalf of Corp2College Communications, Incorporated, I would like to thank you for the opportunity
to present our Integrated Marketing Communications Plan for Synchrony Financial's Business
Leadership Program (BLP). With the proposed plan, Synchrony Financial will be able to increase
awareness around the entry-level and experienced career opportunities available through BLP, while
also providing additional groundwork to establish Synchrony Financial as a top employer choice.
Ultimately, it is our desire that this campaign provides the foundation for Synchrony Financial to
receive incremental BLP applications each year through continued proactive efforts and organic reach
to bolster the size and overall brand of the program.
Corp2College was founded to connect organizations like Synchrony Financial with today's
undergraduate and graduate job-seekers in order to drive increased awareness of and interest in their
available positions. To accomplish this, Corp2College leverages a mix of marketing communication
strategies that are relevant to the ever-evolving student. Each campaign is developed based on our
ongoing research of current generations and their career search behaviors, the job market, and
emerging media, paired with extensive primary and secondary research about our clients and their
competitors.
At Corp2College, we have dedicated our time to truly understanding the mindset and value shifts that
the nation sees as new generations emerge. We want our clients to rest assured that, with our team’s
unique mix of backgrounds in academia and corporate, we will provide strategies to best target their
desired talent pool as they focus on developing the talent that they already have.
Thank you again for your consideration of our proposed marketing plan. We are very excited at the
possibility of helping you propel the Business Leadership Program forward after its first couple of years
in the market. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me any time at (908) 227-1441. I will be
following up with you in the first week of August to discuss your thoughts and feedback on the
proposal.
Sincerely,
Ashley Peterson
Founder & CEO
Corp2College Communications, Inc.
Corp2College Communications, Inc. | 2295 Long Vista Lane, Dayton, OH 45324 | 908.227.1441 | www.corp2college.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary 5
Corp2College Communications 6
About Corp2College 9
Areas of Expertise 10
Case Study: Leadership DELTA 11
Press Release 12
Synchrony Financial & BLP Background 13
Overview 14
History 14
The Business Leadership Program 15
Competition 17
CurrentChallenges 18
CurrentBranding 19
SWOT Analysis 21
The Target: The Millennial Job Seeker 22
Primary Target Market 22
Additional TargetMarkets 24
Focus Group Report 25
The BLP Brand 29
Brand Positioning 29
Brand Personality 31
Brand Perception 32
Integrated Communications Strategy Statement 34
Creative Brief 35

The Campaign 36
Communications Plan 37
Campaign Goal 37
Communication Objectives 37
Pre-Campaign Tactic - Press Release 38
Primary Audience: Potential Applicant Communications 40
Strategies & Tactics 40
Campus Collateral & Website Redesign 40
Synchrony Financial Future Leaders Symposium 45
BLP InSync Blog 46
BLP-Specific Social Media Accounts 47
BuzzFeed Partnership 53
Search Engine Optimization 54
Secondary Audience: Campus Personnel Communications 55
Campus Partner Year in Review 55
Campus Partner Awards Gala 57
Tertiary Audience: Current Employee Communications 58
“Meet The BLPs” Networking Sessions 58
BLP SyncranetFeatures 60
Integrated Communications Flowchart & Rationale 61
Campaign Budget & Rationale 64
Evaluation 66
Conclusion 70
Appendix 71
Focus Group Moderators Guides & ConsentForms 72
References 79

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SYF BLP Campaign Proposal | Corp2College Communications, Inc. Page | 5
As students make their way through their collegiate career, they must ask themselves a variety of
questions to get to the bottom of “What’s next for me?”. Where should I look to gain experience
through an internship? Do I need to attend graduate school before looking into a full-time position?
Is an entry-level job the way to go? Or, should I look into training and development programs? The
questions are many, and so are the options when the job search begins, and every company is
looking to get their pick of top talent from colleges and universities across the nation.
Synchrony Financial is currently making strides along a very unique and exciting journey that it
embarked on just a couple of years ago. In its journey to become a standalone company,
Synchrony’s employees, retail and healthcare partners, and cardholders, as well as other
stakeholders, were in for a pleasant whirlwind as the brand began to emerge and make a name for
itself in the market as a “new” company that was deeply rooted in the industry. Looking towards the
future, Synchrony Financial needed to continue to attract top talent, no matter its circumstances, to
create its pipeline of future leaders. Thus, in this whirlwind also emerged the Business Leadership
Program, which is not your everyday corporate internship and rotational program, but is one that
offers a twist that you won’t see anywhere else.
When Millennials look at a job opportunity, they want to know that they will fit in with the company’s
culture, they want to understand where their career can go, and they want work/life balance. But,
most importantly, they want to feel that they are serving a greater purpose. They look to friends
and family for advice about jobs in addition to trusted campus personnel and online job boards.
Consequently, the Millennials themselves and their influencers must know about you and your
career opportunities, but they must also see the greater value in your opportunities before they
decide to pursue them. That’s where we come in.
Corp2College has leveraged its expertise in researching today’s college students to bring life to a
campaign that will put the Business Leadership Program at the forefront where it belongs. By using
the knowledge of the wants and needs of a Millennial job seeker, we have proposed a way to
capitalize on BLP’s highly unique experience to show Millennials that, with Synchrony Financial,
they will be making a difference and serving a greater good. By digging deep into the BLP brand
and extracting the most defining aspects, we have developed a mix of traditional and digital
advertising, public relations, and new creative developments to ensure that Millennials, as well as
influencers on campus and within your own walls, fully understand that a BLP intern or full-time
participant will gain an experience where they are taking leadership in more ways than one, in and
out of the office, no matter where they are placed. With BLP, they can go beyond just personal and
professional growth – they are also helping Synchrony Financial remain innovative and forward-
thinking along its journey.
We all know that seeing is believing, and the “Every Team, Every Office, Every Community”
campaign lets current participants tell their own story to make sure that Millennial job seekers see
the BLP brand promise in action and stand prepared with an answer to “What’s next for me?”.

Corp2College Communications, Inc. | 2295 Long Vista Lane, Dayton, OH 45324 | 908.227.1441 | www.corp2college.com

CORP2COLLEGE COMMUNICATIONS, INCORPORATED
MISSION
Corp2College helps organizations build their pipeline of future leaders by unlocking the key to
effectively connecting with college campuses nationwide through innovative and impactful
recruiting executions.
Corp2College Communications, Incorporated (www.corp2college.com) is a full-service
integrated marketing communications agency headquartered in Dayton, OH, founded to assist
organizations in developing impactful university recruiting campaigns that will attract their pipeline
of future leaders. With an effective mix of traditional and emerging media and in-person events,
Corp2College understands that each organization has the opportunity to promote their niche to
help it stand out amongst a growing crowd of potential employers. It is Corp2College’s job to
develop ways to capitalize on this niche to drive students to its clients’ online and offline
communications channels and, ultimately, its application.
PHILOSOPHY
Shape the future of organizations, one recruiting campaign at a time.
Corp2College strives to provide recruiting campaigns that will drive the most desirable future
leaders of your company to your application. By keeping our clients’ core desires first in all we do,
we are able to focus on going beyond what you tell us you want by giving you exactly what we
know you need to build your leadership pipeline. We look at each organization in its totality – its
history, employees, leadership, and current and future goals – to make sure that students get the
full picture of what your company stands for, and how they can step in to grow, develop, network,
and most importantly, make an impact.

Areas of Specialty
§ Research: Focused on providing our clients with top-notch recruiting campaigns, our efforts
are driven by continuous deep research of the various generations that make up the
workforce, how colleges are influencing their decisions, and what the job market looks like in
general compared to what the current graduating classes are looking for.
§ Branding: Corp2College wants to understand our clients’ brands and capitalize on aspects
that matter most to students. While a corporate brand brings one perspective to the forefront,
capitalizing on the unique aspects of the employer brand is what we strive to focus on.
§ Public Relations: By understanding your key publics and what matters most to them, we are
able to pick apart the messaging that each needs to broaden the reach of your brand
message and help you gain more ambassadors inside and outside of your organization’s
walls.
§ Digital Media: Today’s students are increasingly turning to digital for their everyday needs. It
is important for us to bring you to where they are so that the proper connections can be
made. This is achieved through strong social media and SEO campaigns to make your name
stand out amongst the crowd of job opportunities.
§ Mobile: Everyone is on-the-go these days and one thing that is always in an arm’s reach is a
mobile device. Where there is opportunity, we want to bring your brand to students’ fingertips,
whether it is through mobile-optimized websites or full mobile applications that will help to tell
your story and keep them engaged on the move.
§ Creative: In a world of constant messaging coming from every direction, it is important for
your message to break through the clutter. Through print and digital approaches, we pay
close attention to what will make your opportunities rise to the top as the most attractive and
make sure that the imagery matches the experience.
What Corp2College Can Offer Synchrony Financial
Corp2College promises a single thing to our clients: recruiting and hiring success. Our team’s
background represents expertise in what every exceptional recruiting effort needs – knowledge of
students and their experiences and knowledge of Corporate America. The Corp2College team is
comprised of skilled individuals who have spent time in the corporate world, on college campuses,
as well as those that have served in both capacities since their own time as a student. We have
uniquely built a diverse team in terms of age and culture as well to represent the environments
that students are exposed to during their collegiate career and when they enter the “real world”.
Simply put, Corp2College understands that organizations have to develop their own talent first
before bringing in new talent – we’ll let you work on what you have, and we’ll work on what you’re
looking to get.

CASE STUDY: LEADERSHIP DELTA
Leadership DELTA is a competitive, national leadership development program co-
sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and General Electric. The program is
designed to develop collegiate leaders, expose them to professional opportunities &
networks, and pair them with a mentor to help guide their career development. The
program is also important in building the leadership capabilities Delta Sigma Theta
needs in its members for the long-term success and longevity of the international
sorority. Targeting high-achieving, active collegiate juniors and seniors with 3.2+ GPAs,
Leadership DELTA had an opportunity to leverage social media to broaden awareness
to increase applications and program participants for its 2014-2015 program year.
While this social campaign was run prior to the opening of Corp2College, our Founder sees this
campaign as the original inspiration behind what later became the agency you see today. As a
former General Electric employee and member of the sorority, this provided her with the opportunity
to expand on her marketing skills while giving back to her sorority and employer. The results from
this campaign serve as just one early example of how our team can bring success with an
awareness campaign. The goal of this two-and-a-half-month-long campaign was to drive greater
awareness of the Leadership DELTA opportunity amongst both collegiate and graduate sorority
members by leveraging existing and new channels and messaging.
The Leadership DELTA Facebook page was an existing channel with low visibility and
activity. With a primary audience of graduate sorority chapters and program graduates,
page likes increased by 157% after 34 new posts were made spotlighting Deltas
working at GE and images from past classes and conferences. The story the posts told
encouraged an exceptional level of sharing, resulting in 6,900+ total post reach.
The Leadership DELTA Twitter account was also an existing channel that died down after
the last conference was held. With a primary audience of sorority members eligible to
apply, consistent sharing of content from the Facebook page and direct engagement with
followers drove a 26% increase in followers and about 70 retweets during the time
period.
The Leadership DELTA Instagram account was a new channel developed for this
campaign given the increased use among the target audience of applicants. During the
campaign, leveraging Instagram-optimized versions of the content from Facebook, the
account gained 177 followers with 385 likes across 35 posts, realizing true success
in inviting followers to tag others that they knew in the photos being shared.

For Immediate Release
March 1, 2016
Integrated Marketing Agency Corp2College Opens Its Doors
New agency focuses on creating unique recruiting campaigns to reach today’s college students
Dayton, OH (March 1, 2016) – Corp2College Communications, Incorporated is an integrated marketing
communications agency based in Dayton, OH that has officially opened its doors for corporate clients
seeking marketing communications professionals to develop their next university recruiting campaign.
The agency uses its expertise in understanding the behaviors of today’s generation of college students to
drive innovative and impactful recruiting campaigns to connect corporations to their next set of new hires.
The Corp2College team brings a unique perspective to helping organizations meet a constant goal –
attracting new talent that will serve as a good fit for the company, its culture, and its organizational goals.
Many organizations provide opportunities for current and graduating students to enter the company
through internships and training programs, often making it difficult for one to stand out amongst others
and leaving the company brand as the major driver of student choice. Corp2College strives to understand
its clients’ goals and uniqueness of its career opportunities to develop a campaign that leverages a mix of
traditional and digital media, mobile, and in-person events that will attract the desired pool of collegiate
employees.
“In the ever-evolving economy, today’s college students are not just seeking internships and full-time
opportunities to make money, they want the opportunity to serve a greater good. Corp2College is here to
make sure that students can identify their purpose in your organization,” said Founder Ashley Peterson.
“As a team with experience that stretches across both corporate and academia, it is our purpose to make
sure that your recruiting campaigns reach the collegiate population where they are and give a unique
spin to your company’s opportunities in comparison to others in the market”.
Corp2College Communications, Incorporated is currently accepting new clients in all industries. For more
information about the agency, visit www.corp2college.com.
###
About Corp2College Communications, Incorporated
Corp2College Communications, Incorporated (www.corp2college.com) is a full-service integrated
marketing communications agency headquartered in Dayton, OH founded to assist organizations in
developing impactful university recruiting campaigns that will create the pipeline for future leaders. With
an effective mix of traditional and emerging media and in-person events, Corp2College understands that
each organization has the opportunity to promote their niche to help it stand out amongst a growing
crowd of potential employers. It is Corp2College’s job to capitalize on this niche to drive students to its
clients’ online and offline communications channels and, ultimately, its application.

BACKGROUND & SITUATION ANALYSIS
Overview
Synchrony Financial (SYF) is one of the nation’s
premier consumer financial services companies and the
largest provider of private label credit cards in the nation
based on purchase volume and receivables. The
company, headquartered in Stamford, CT, delivers a
wide range of credit products and delivers innovative
solutions to support the ongoing growth of its partners
and financial stability of its customers. With over 12,000
employees across 26 locations in the U.S., India, and
the Philippines, guided by the core values of honesty,
passion, driven, caring, responsible, and bold,
Synchrony Financial is dedicated to create value for all
stakeholders including its partners, customers,
depositors, employees, shareholders, regulators, and its
communities (“Annual Report 2015”, 2016).
History
With roots in the consumer finance industry beginning in 1932, Synchrony Financial has built a strong
foundation over its 84 years in existence. Consisting of the legal entities that historically conducted
General Electric’s North American retail finance business, Synchrony Financial embarked on a
unique journey to become the company that it is today (“Annual Report 2015”, 2016). Following a
strategic decision for General Electric to shift from its long-standing reliance on financial profits to
return to its roots as one of the nation’s oldest and strongest industrial manufacturers, the consumer
finance sector began its path to becoming the largest Initial Public Offering in 2014 (Mann and
Demos, 2014). Most important in this journey was November 17, 2015, when the official separation
from General Electric was announced and Synchrony Financial was 100% standalone (“Annual
Report 2015”, 2016).
Synchrony Financial offers its credit products through three sales platforms:
§ Retail Card: This platform is the leading provider of private label credit cards, while also
providing Dual cards and small and medium-size business credit products through partnerships
with 22 national and regional retailers across 40,000 retail locations. The Retail Card partners
include Lowe’s, Walmart, Belk, Amazon, PayPal, American Eagle, Gap, and BP (“Annual
Report 2015”, 2016).

§ Payment Solutions: The Payment Solutions platform is the leading provider of promotional
financing for major consumer purchases through private label credit cards and installment
loans. With partnerships that cover close to 115,000 retail locations, this platform operates in
various industries including home furnishings/flooring, electronics/appliances, home specialty,
automotive, power, and jewelry, among others. Payment Solutions partners include American
Signature Furniture, Ashley Furniture, Discount Tire, hhgregg, Select Comfort, Yamaha, and
Sleepy’s (“Annual Report 2015”, 2016).
§ CareCredit: CareCredit is a leading provider of promotional financing to consumers for elective
healthcare products or services, including dental, veterinary, cosmetics, vision, and audiology.
This platform provides a CareCredit-branded private label credit card that can be used across
the network of CareCredit providers, which now includes close to 4,600 Rite Aid locations
across the nation (“Annual Report 2015”, 2016).
In addition to the main consumer financing platforms, Synchrony Bank, Synchrony Financial’s
subsidiary, provides FDIC-insured deposit products (CDs, Money Markets, Savings, IRAs) to
customers and, most recently, the Marvel MasterCard that provides accountholders with no annual
fee, cashback benefits, and special benefits for purchases made on Marvel merchandise (PYMTS,
2016).
The Business Leadership Program
The Business Leadership Program, or BLP, is an entry-level and experienced internship and full-
time career opportunity for current undergraduate and graduate students designed to develop the
industry’s next leaders. The program is split into two segments – BLP and BLP-Internship –
depending on whether the participant is still pursuing their degree or has recently graduated. Both
segments of the program provide participants with functional track options to apply for depending on
their majors and/or interests in which they will spend their internship or rotations across the
company's various sites. These tracks include Data Analytics, Enterprise Operations, Finance, HR,
Internal Audit, IT, Marketing, Risk & Credit, and Sales & Relationship Management (“Business
Leadership Program”, 2016).

BLP (Full-Time)
Synchrony Financial (2016) explains the full-time opportunity as follows: "The Business Leadership
Program is a two-year, three-rotation leadership development program for recent college and
master degree grads. Aimed at building domain, company and industry expertise, the BLP
incorporates real world experience with cross-functional, customer and community service
experiences that not only develop you as a leader, but as a person." The structure of the two-year
program is illustrated below.
BLP-Internship
The internship portion of the program is very similar to the full-time, instead it just takes place over
the summer and serves as the pipeline for future BLPs. "The BLP-Internship offers a 10–12 week
paid summer program. Like the BLP, it’s a combination of hands-on experience and classroom
learning. You’ll be challenged with meaningful work, mentored by Synchrony Financial leaders and
inspired by your talented cohort. Plus, our Early Identification Platform helps identify participants for
hire into our Business Leadership Program upon graduation" (“Business Leadership Program”,
2016).

Competition
Synchrony Financial’s direct competitors based on products and services include financial
institutions Alliance Data, American Express, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, TD Bank, and Wells
Fargo. For BLP, the direct competitor set would include any similar rotational and internship
programs available to undergraduate and graduate students. While many companies today offer
these kind of development opportunities to students, allowing the choices to be plentiful for today’s
students, it is best to limit the competition to those in financial services with the same time frame,
some of which are very well-known corporate brands. The following companies offer a two-year
leadership program supported by internship opportunities for current students:
The Chase Leadership
Development Program (CLDP) is a
series of three, 8-month rotations in
the Consumer & Community Banking
sector of the business in the
Analytics, Marketing & Product
Development, or Risk Management
tracks. Participants are given high
priority projects on diverse teams in
addition to a rigorous training
curriculum (JP Morgan Chase &
Company, 2016).
The MasterCard Graduate Development
Program (MGDP) and Management
Associates Program are the
undergraduate and graduate program
opportunities at MasterCard, respectively,
with the latter being more of a fast-track 18-
month experience. A special note about
these programs is the similar marketing
approach the company currently takes
compared to BLP in drawing interest
through intriguing questions of how
participants can help drive the success of
the payments space (MasterCard, 2016).
The Actuarial, Finance, and IT
Development Programs give
participants between two and three
years of on-the-job experience
paired with formal coursework
related to the function. Genworth
often moves its participants for the
greatest ability to gain exposure and
learning opportunities across the
business (Genworth Financial,
2016).
Participants in the Futures
Program are exposed to various
functional areas of the company
over a two-year period in a specific
office (Franklin Templeton
Investments, 2016).

Many other financial institutions that offer some kind of development program opportunity provide
their new hires with a program that lasts between 6 and 18 months, while others only offer summer
internships and entry-levelpositions. Compared to the competition, BLP provides an umbrella
brand for its participants, simplifying the delineation between those interning, in the full-time
program, and other internal development programs within Synchrony Financial. This then simplifies
the ability to clearly communicate what the program is to internal and external audiences. In terms
of the competition, it is important to note that, awareness of these opportunities compared to BLP
can be driven by a particular university’s established partnerships with these companies and/or the
regional prevalence of these in the locality of the university.
Current Challenges & Unique Problems
The main challenge of the Business Leadership Program currently is its newness in the
marketplace, which it is already starting to overcome as it is launching its second full year. As more
and more interns and full-time hires join the company, the easier it is to spread awareness back to
their campuses and communities. With its first recruiting season beginning in Fall 2014, the
program targeted approximately 60 full-time participants and 60 interns, with a goal to convert 70%
of the interns into full-time when they become eligible (Kennedy, 2014).
The table below illustrates the results of the first two recruiting seasons for BLP:
BLP Recruiting
Results
2014 Recruiting Season 2015 Recruiting Season
Full-Time Intern Full-Time Intern
Colleges Engaged 35 31
Applications Received 1800 2724
On-Campus Interviews 635 754
Second-Round Interviews
Conducted (BLP FT)
169
(83% Accepted)
N/A 164
(83% Accepted)
N/A
Offers Extended 74 99 57 103
Offers Accepted 50 53 36 55
Acceptance Rate 68% 51% 63% 53%

Looking from one year to the next, awareness and/or interest in the program evidently increased as
applications increased significantly despite the amount of schools touched slightly decreasing in its
second recruiting season. While the internship pipeline stayed strong, there was a decrease in full-
time offers both extended and accepted, which can speak to either the caliber of student being
reached or the students’ desire to apply or work for the program. Moving into its second year, the
program was able to see how its first summer interns felt about their time with the company. Out of
the 57 full-time offers extended, 21 were conversions from the intern pipeline and only 12 of those
offers were accepted. Out of the 103 intern offers extended, 15 were conversions from first year
interns not yet eligible for full time, and only 3 of those offers were accepted.
By reviewing the results above, and looking beyond the necessary objective of driving greater
awareness, BLP has to figure out the answer to the following question: Is it Synchrony and BLP, the
students’ background or preferences, or competing offers that are driving these changes in results?
The proposed campaign has been created to not just continue in driving the program out of its stage
of newness, but also ensuring that the marketing of the program matches the BLP experience in
hopes to proactively tackle that question.
Current Branding Efforts
On March 28th, Synchrony Financial launched their first post-separation branding campaign, “What
are you working forward to?”. This campaign reflects the brand position that Synchrony “empowers
businesses and people to realize their unique ambition”. The campaign communicates the various
things that Synchrony and its platforms can provide to its partners and their customers. The
campaign ads can be found “across a wide range of business, sports, news, and retail sites like
ESPN, CNBC, Vox, WSJ, and Retailing Today; on [Synchrony Financial’s] Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, and YouTube; and the CNN Airport Network”. (T. White, personal communication, March
25, 2016). Below are some examples of the new campaign still imagery and their captions from the
official Facebook page.
Your ambitions are uniquely
yours, and we believe they’re
not just what you look
forward to, but what you
work forward to. At
Synchrony Financial, we’re
working forward to provide
the payment tools and
technology that help give
you the buying power you
need and want. Tell us, what
are you working forward to?

You have goals.
Synchrony Financial
has solutions to
help you work
forward to your
ambition.
Each ambition achieved begins with the foresight and determination
to begin the journey. What are you working forward to?
The Business Leadership Program has adopted a similar brand of “Think Forward” which will
be discussed further in the Brand Positioning section of the proposal.

SWOT ANALYSIS
• Strong company foundation (80+ years in
industry)
• Respected, experienced leadership team
• Well-established brand story
• Solid company culture
• Consistently growing brand awareness
• BLP perceived as unique experience
• SYF campaigns don’t consistently reach
target audience for hiring
• Employer and BLP brand remain
relatively new in the market
• Inconsistent levels of internal awareness
of BLP
• Brand perception varies widely based on
experience as customer, partner,
employee, etc.
• Full “BLP experience” not completed by
any participants yet
• More established presence/awareness of
competing brands/career opportunities
• Prevalence of Millennials’ affinity for tech
companies & startups
• Large amount of companies with similar
job opportunities
• Potential negative media coverage
affecting overall brand
• Stronger media presence for BLP in
overall SYF story
• Technological innovation
• Continued growth through partner
acquisitions
• Strengthening of company and brand
through talent acquisition
STRENGTHS
OPPORTUNITIES
WEAKNESSES
THREATS
When developing the proposed BLP campaign, it was extremely important to understand the
aspects of the above SWOT analysis that may affect a Millennial’s view of Synchrony as a
potential employer. As Synchrony remains a relatively new brand name in the market, the
newest corporate branding campaign is more focused on communicating the brand promise to
the key audiences of partners and end customers. This leaves a potential, but not guaranteed,
residual effect in the mind of a job seeker and, therefore, brings the opportunity for this BLP
campaign to bridge the gap.
This campaign will capitalize on the strong company foundation by exemplifying how BLP is just
as competitive and valuable to a recent graduate as similar and/or more established
opportunities through a highly unique experience from day one on the job. The strategies and
tactics recommended in this proposal understand that BLP has the opportunity to better target
potential applicants as well as those that influence their key decisions and the SYF employer
brand. While Millennials may sway towards working for companies that are perceived to be
more established, those in the technology industry, or startups, this campaign is set to
communicate that they can have a mix of these experiences in one due to the Synchrony
journey. Overall, this proposed campaign will ensure that Millennial job seekers understand
their ability to take themselves on a highly unique journey to leadership at a company that is
going through dynamic changes that will be key to helping them grow their careers.

THE MILLENNIAL JOB SEEKER
Primary Target Market:
Millennial Undergraduate & Graduate Students / Potential Applicants
The target for this campaign is the Millennial generation, or Generation Y, defined as those born
between 1980 and 1995. Coming of age during years influenced by a mixed economy, terrorism
and violence, the expansion of technology and media, and the emergence of social media, this
generation is the most cyber-liberate, media-savvy, collaborative, as well as most realistic and
environmentally conscious. Millennials’ values include personal success, happiness, loyalty, and
equality (Bridgeworks, 2016). Most importantly, this generation is now the largest living generation,
as well as most diverse, with over 75 million people and continuously growing due to young
immigrants moving into the nation. About 43% of this segment is non-white, driven by Latino and
Asian migration in the last couple of decades (Lilley, 2014).
More specifically, the primary target market for this campaign includes U.S. undergraduate and
graduate level students that are eligible for internships and full-time positions in the Business
Leadership Program. Based on the available tracks in the program, these students must have the
applicable background for and show interest in a position in Sales, Marketing, HR, Risk, Finance,
Information Technology, Operations, Data Analytics, and Internal Audit. In general, most of the
tracks require students to be pursuing or graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in a related field with
a 3.0 GPA. As the exception, the Marketing and HR tracks require an MBA or Master’s degree with
the same 3.0 GPA minimum (“Business Leadership Program”, 2016). The following major
categories are provided by the program by track:
• Data Analytics - Bachelor’s degree in quantitative discipline like Statistics, Mathematics,
Engineering, etc.
• Enterprise Operations - Bachelor’s degree in a field of business (Finance, Economics,
Business Management, Marketing, etc.)
• Finance - Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Math or Economics
• HR - Master’s degree in a Human Resources discipline
• Internal Audit - Bachelor’s degree in Internal Audit, Finance, Accounting, Math, Economics, or
related field
• IT - Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Computer
Engineering or Information Assurance/Cyber Security is preferred
• Marketing - Master’s degree in Business is preferred or equivalent academic credential
• Risk & Credit - Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Mathematics, Finance, Economics or relevant
major
• Sales & Relationship Management - Majors flexible; Candidates with passion to work in Sales
roles (“Business Leadership Program”, 2016)

The Millennial Job Search
When understanding why this target market
would look to Synchrony Financial and, more
importantly, the Business Leadership Program
as their next job opportunity, it is imperative to
first understand how they look for jobs and what
they look for in the various opportunities
available.
In a recent study, it was found that Millennials
hear about companies most from friends, job
boards, and on campus, meaning that these
sources must be aware of Synchrony Financial
as well. This proposal will cover how the
company and, more specifically, the BLP team
can leverage various ways to reach these
influencers in Millennials’ lives.
Source: Harvard Business Review
Consequently, general awareness of the name Synchrony Financial continues to be an important
factor. While businesses and customers may be aware, it cannot be assumed that the awareness is
nearly as high on college campuses. For example, when preparing for a career fair, students are
recommended to research companies in attendance beforehand to be able to prioritize and make the
most of their time at the fair. The name of the company may appeal to business majors, specifically
Finance majors, but may get overlooked by others that fall into the wide range of majors recruited by
the program, like IT or HR. For a program that has been working the past couple of years to heavily
recruit during Fall semesters, this general awareness factor is a high priority for the campaign so that
the recruiting efforts pay off.
Depending on their knowledge of the Synchrony Financial journey and/or its products and services,
students on the undergraduate or graduate level may or may not be aware of who Synchrony
Financial is. This level of awareness of Synchrony typically would have a direct correlation to their
awareness of BLP. Graduate students, most of whom have spent time working before or during their
program, possibly know of the Synchrony Financial journey due to general awareness of the market,
while others may not. In general, it would be expected that any Synchrony Financial cardholders
would be aware of the company, but possibly not BLP, due to various brand awareness marketing
strategies targeting cardholders and the general public.

People and culture fit,
career potential, and
work/life balance fall into
the top 3 aspects of a
company that Millennials
look for, meaning there
must be specific marketing
and communications that
show how Synchrony
Financial demonstrates
these for potential BLP
participants.
Source: Harvard Business Review
ADDITIONAL TARGET MARKETS
Secondary Market: Student-Facing Personnel at Colleges & Universities
One way that companies drive awareness about their career opportunities for students is by connecting
with colleges and universities to attend and plan recruiting events such as career fairs and information
sessions. Therefore, it is important that an awareness campaign also gain the attention of the personnel
that can influence and advise the students in their career decision and have decision-making abilities to
get companies involved in their recruiting events. This group includes Career Services, Deans, Advisors,
and Professors who are speaking with students on a daily basis in different capacities (i.e. office hours,
career development activities, advising sessions, etc.), understand the interests and goals of their
students, and can help direct students to potential employers that they believe may be a good fit. While
exposing students to career opportunities is key, building relationships through targeted messaging or
events with this secondary target market can drive preferential recommendations as students are on
their job search.
Lastly, when understanding what workplace happiness means for the Millennial generations,
companies are looking at a new, unique perspective on how their culture and opportunities can
attract this group. While past generations may have cited pay as one of their top drivers in applying
for and/or accepting a position, Millennials look for purpose and flexibility. “[Millennials] are
constantly seeking purpose in what they do for a living and at the same time want to know how their
job is helping them get to the top. They’re constantly questioning where they are going next and
why. That is, which position they will hold next,” shares Moore (2014).

Tertiary Market: Current Employees
This diverse group of over 12,000 employees works across various locations in the United States, India,
and the Philippines in functions including Finance, IT, Risk, HR, Sales, Marketing as well as in customer
service and collections call centers. Each function and call center team can either be dedicated to a
specific platform or retail client or work internally to support the various functions in their everyday
interactions with clients (“Careers”, 2015). As a Synchrony Financial employee, each individual commits
to the company’s dedication to the following purpose of engagement: “We pioneer the future of financing,
improving the success of every business we serve and the quality of each life we touch”, which is
supported by the company’s values of Honesty, Responsible, Passion, Caring, Driven, and Bold
(“Annual Report 2015”, 2016).
As of the end of 2014, Synchrony employees had an average tenure of 7 years, higher than the US
average of 4.6 years, and the company as a whole was maintaining a 90% retention rate. With growth of
over 2,000 employees since its IPO, Synchrony serves as a prime example of the positive results a
strong company culture brings (“Annual Report 2014”, 2015). In an environment of high employee
satisfaction, 98% of employees identify more strongly with company culture when they are happy with
the job and are 186% more likely to promote their company and reach out during networking
opportunities (Gravitate Design, n.d.).
Consequently, employees can serve as brand ambassadors for Synchrony Financial, either in official or
unofficial recruiting opportunities where they can share their first-hand experiences with the company,
assisting to achieve the goal of the campaign. While this internal group may have the opportunity to learn
more about the program on their own, proposed campaign tactics can further educate them so that they,
too, can be advocates for the program’s success.

FOCUS GROUP REPORT
Corp2College held two focus groups on behalf of Synchrony Financial as part of the primary research
for the Business Leadership Program. The first was held on Wednesday, May 25th from 3:30pm –
5:00pm containing six current participants of the program via Synchrony Financial’s telepresence
rooms. The second was held on Tuesday, May 31st from 6:30pm – 8:00pm via Google Hangouts
containing a diverse group of seven current undergraduate or graduate students or those that
graduated in Spring 2016. As a program that recruits nationwide, the geographic diversity was very
important to capture a diverse set of thoughts about the concepts presented, making the virtual focus
groups necessary.
In both focus groups, the following three concepts were presented, with the title of the concept
highlighting the benefit to the program experience:
Concept #1: A Unique Two Year Experience
A top financial services company officially rolled out a new leadership program in Fall 2014 that
includes internship and full-time job opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students
across a wide variety of business and quantitative disciplines. While many companies provide
opportunities through rotational programs, including the company’s former parent company, this
program brings a twist to the experience. This program uniquely provides three seven-month
rotations with two one-month cross-functionalexperiences and a one-month immersive
community service opportunity at the close of each rotation. As a potential future participant in
the program, you have the chance to gain on-the-job experience in your desired discipline while
automatically being exposed to other parts of the business and giving back to the community.
Concept #2: New Journey with a “New” Company
It's not every day that students get to join an established company embarking on a brand new
journey. This company, through its summer 2014 Initial Public Offering, followed by its path to
become a 100% standalone company by 2015, brings an experience that allows you to step in
and make a difference right away. After 80 years operating in the financial services industry, the
company has built key, long-standing partnerships across the nation and has become the
largest provider of private label credit cards in the U.S. As a company with a well-known name,
both old and new, this new journey has driven the need for boldness and passion from those
that have the desire to innovate. If you are looking for a way to build on to legacy with the
exciting opportunity to see your ideas come to life, this rotational program is for you. It is time for
you to join us on this new journey as a uniquely "new" company with a strong foundation in its
industry.

Concept #3: A Diverse Leadership Experience
Whether it is diversity of thought, background, or experiences, this leadership program is
dedicated to embracing the personal and professional backgrounds of each participant with the
ultimate goal of further developing the company's next leaders. With the help of supportive
leadership, a wealth of knowledge that has been developed over the company's 80 years, and
its seven diversity networks, you have the chance to take control of your own career and get
engaged beyond your assignments to help the company succeed.
Rotational assignments paired with built-in cross-functionalexperiences allow you to learn the
business quickly and truly make a difference for the teams that you work on. With added
opportunities to get involved with Diversity & Inclusion Networks, you can further develop your
skills while building your network across the company. Lastly, with the involvement of leaders
who have contributed to the strong 80-year legacy of the business, you have the opportunity to
find your next mentor or sponsor that will support your growth for your first two years and
beyond.
Even though the two focus groups had different perspectives of the program –
with the first actually completing their first year in the program and the second
generally unaware of the actual client or program – the overall findings from
the two discussions resulted in very similar opinions.
Concept #1
The focus groups highlighted how this idea presented a program that was different from other
leadership programs that they had been aware of – the cross-functionaland community service
aspects were identified as key unique benefits to this program when being compared to other
opportunities. While these unique aspects made the program stand out amongst competitors, it did
not fully drive a desire to act across the two sets of participants because the overall concept seemed
to leave too much to interpretation.
Concept #2
Both focus groups agreed that, while this idea drives excitement, it almost gives too much
information and “fluff” to the point that it can seem confusing, unbelievable, and/or downplay the
true value of the actual job and experience. While the current participants could attest to the truth in
what is in this idea, their own experiences have shown that external audiences did not believe the
potential experiences if they did not share their own testimonial. The buzzwords/phrases used in this
concept such as “Make a difference”, “Desire to innovate”, and “See your ideas come to
life” were well-received by both audiences and the callout about the strong foundation in the
industry makes the company seem like a worthy potential employer.

Concept #3
The two focus groups looked at this concept with the positive outlook that the BLP is more than
just rotational assignments, but a well-rounded opportunity for growth as emerging leaders.
With the exception of the mention of diversity networks which was deemed unnecessary, the overall
opinion was that this concept captured the company, program, and most important benefits of the
total experience. The core benefit communicated with this concept – the fact that it is a diverse
leadership experience and not just a job – sparked enough interest to drive additional research to
apply.
Based on their perspectives, the two focus groups were able to give a couple of unique insights in
addition to the original discussions about the concepts. The current program participants identified
that, because it is in its first full year, there may be changes as things are executed for the first time
and future participants must be prepared for a total “learn as you go” environment. The highly
evident investment that the company has in the program is what the participants found to be most
important in this kind of situation but finding a way to positively spin it as a dynamic learning
opportunity was a suggestion for the overall marketing of the program given the amazing
experiences that they have had.
On the other hand, the second focus group specifically discussed the need to know more
about what would be next after their internship or two-year experience and what those
possibilities may look like. This discussion began with stating that the benefits are great for the
summer or two-year experience, but having an understanding of where they will they land once that
time over was also very important.

THE BLP BRAND
Brand Positioning
Currently, the Business Leadership Program is marketing under the creative theme of “Think Forward”.
In visiting the BLP website, one will find the foundation of the current brand position. The website is
filled with some of the following questions to spark interest in the opportunity:
§ Will smartphones replace physicalcurrency? (encouraging visitors to share their thoughts with the
@SYFCareers Twitter)
§ Does the future intrigue you?
§ Are you passionate about influencing change – and your career?
§ Do you want to determine how tomorrow looks?
These questions and similar phrases can be found on other creatives used by the program and BLP’s
social media efforts are currently executed under the umbrella of the Synchrony Financial Careers
pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Career Fair Displays
BLP Brochure
BLP Website

Overall, BLP is currently positioned as a career opportunity that lets you leverage your personal
interests and passions to make a change in a growing company, while developing yourself in the
process.
As with any new brand testing its position in the market, there is an opportunity to improve how the
brand stands today. Current branding efforts for the program are founded in buzzwords and
animations. Outside of photos of some of the current participants in various training, team-building,
and service settings, there isn’t not a lot of outfacing content that shows the program in action.
Without further research, the BLP website does not fully tell the story of “I accepted an offer. What’s
really next for me?”. The answer to this question was very important to focus group participants in
terms of how the program works and what would happen after their internship or two-year
experience. While telling this story was not completely possible with the program having yet to
graduate its first new hire class, there now stands an opportunity to begin featuring their experiences
to bring the program to life. With the website and in-person recruiting events serving as the main
promotional vehicles for the program to date, it is important that the brand story begins to leverage
as much of the “real life” BLP experience to best position itself.
In order to better resonate with the Millennial audience, BLP should adopt the following revised
positioning statement:
The Business Leadership Program offers today’s emerging leaders with an
opportunity to make a difference from day one in a diverse, collaborative learning
environment within one of today’s leading financial services companies.
This positioning adopts the breadth of experiences that become available to potential participants.
The current position focuses on the “bright, shiny objects” that Synchrony is working forward to as
they become a leader in the payments space, but the program encompasses so many different
desirable opportunities and experiences that can be communicated in very simple ways and still
drive interest from a broader student base.
The simple ability to get cross-functionalexperiences and community service projects drove instant
interest in the program. While buzzwords like “innovation” remain important in the proposed
campaign, they must be used in a way to bring more attention to the holistic experience. The biggest
takeaway from primary research found that, unlike other rotational programs that are very training-
focused, BLP shows to be a much more well-rounded experience, which is highly appreciated by the
target market.

Brand Personality
The current Business Leadership Program can be described as very inviting and intriguing. The
questions used to prompt potential applicants to think about how they can contribute to Synchrony
Financial and how they can leverage their own thoughts to make a change while growing
professionally and personally make the program very desirable, no matter one’s level of awareness
of Synchrony Financial. With a full year under its belt, the program now has the opportunity to
make a shift in how it personifies itself and bring the essence of what BLP has been to date to the
forefront. With Millennials having a strong value in people and culture fit, the BLP brand personality
has the opportunity to evolve into the “person” Millennials want to work with. If BLP were a
person, it now needs to be an individual that is authentic, well-rounded, and driven, all
combined with a professional touch when it comes to taking care of business. It can step
away from the intriguing mysteriousness it had in its infancy, and take a bold stand as the unique
brand that it is in today’s job market.
AUTHENTIC
When Millennials evaluate if a job opportunity or employer is right for them, and later down the
line, if it is worth staying there, Millennials value authenticity and transparency (Sellers, 2015).
Combined with the promise of giving future employees the ability to make a change, Synchrony
Financial must present BLP in a way that proves that participants can come in, be themselves,
and voice their opinions. To do this, the brand must be shown as “real” and in a way that shows
that “what you see is what you get”. “When work environments invite everyone into the process
of improvement, they excel in the marketplace and end up with employees that become
extremely loyal…one of the many benefits of creating this type of workplace is that you’ll be able
to attract and retain the best and brightest people”, states career professional Teri Hockett
(Smith, 2013). The BLP brand must be supported by solid examples of how this culture has
been and would be implemented when participants are hired.
WELL-ROUNDED
BLP has already created a niche in the job-market by presenting its unique rotational structure
that includes the built-in cross-functionaland community service experiences. As a single-
branded program, BLP also automatically drives collaboration with a larger cohort and exposure
to the backgrounds and work of other participants, which is often hard to achieve in programs
that operate in silos. To provide the foundation of a well-rounded brand, the BLP brand needs to
illustrate how the program itself is well-rounded as well as how it thrives off of and further
develops well-rounded individuals.

DRIVEN
As a new program in the market, adopting a brand personality characteristic of driven is important,
especially for Synchrony Financial given its set of values. Defined as “very determined to succeed”
and “propelled or motivated by something”, having a trait of driven gives a brand the ability to
expand on what it working toward or, in Synchrony’s case, working forward to (Merriam-Webster,
2016). Illustrating the BLP brand as driven provides the opportunity to show Millennials not just
what the company is focused on accomplishing, but also how their place in the company can help
and allow them to find their purpose in that bigger picture.
PROFESSIONAL
As a leadership program, the brand must have a level of professionalism, as it promises to build
the company’s next functional professionals that will lead the company into future success. But,
just as companies must adapt to the generational preferences in the jobs they offer, they must also
understand what perceived professionalism is to this group, as that also evolves with the culture
that this generation prefers. It is constantly made known how Millennials are different, especially in
the workplace, so the BLP brand must adopt a sense of professionalism that is expected at
Synchrony Financial, not the next financial services company or the startup competing for
Millennial talent.
Brand Perception
Overall, Synchrony Financial has generated an extremely positive employer brand in its first couple of
years since its journey to separation began. Out of 182 total employee reviews on Glassdoor (2016),
74% of employees would recommend the company to a friend, 92% of employees approve of their
CEO Margaret M. Keane, and the reviews have provided Synchrony with a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5.
Positive reviews often cite the employer’s dedication to work/life balance, great benefits, a positive
work environment, and flexibility, while some cons of the company include struggles with work/life
balance and development, specifically in the call center environment (Glassdoor, 2016). With any
company, there are differences in perception depending on one’s role within the company, but the
overall view of Synchrony remains positive, specifically for BLP.
A general look of how the Business Leadership Program has impacted Millennials can be
determined by the responses from the focus group of current participants as well as reviews
posted online about experiences in the program. Current participants feel as though there is
genuine care and investment in the program as they are provided with meaningful rotational
projects and experiences and never feel as though they are without a helping hand encouraging
them along the way. A recent Glassdoor review mentions, “There is unbelievable exposure to
senior management… People at all levels of the company are approachable and friendly… Salary
and benefits are extremely good, especially for a first job out of college…. It seems like they took
the best of the GE leadership programs and even made it better” (Glassdoor, 2016).

The Business Leadership Program,while one ofmany rotational and training programs
available to currentstudents and recent graduates,provides the distinctive opportunity to
work for a company that is on a unique journey,cares aboutits employees,and is
dedicated to seeing growth in all aspects of the work that they do internally and
externally.And,with the unique company experience,comes the unique rotational
experience thathas been mentioned throughoutthis proposal.Research has shown that
BLP surpasses the expectations of the everyday rotational program,generating a very
positive perception from those that know aboutit. When presented to the external focus
group participants,even those that were not fully aware of rotational programs as a
whole were pleasantly surprised aboutwhatthe program has to offer and were eager to
learn more.
The Millennial generation perceives the Business Leadership Program as an
exciting development opportunity that they must see/researchto believe given its
new and unique nature compared to others that they have been exposed to. The
foundation of BLP is very strong and, with a new approach,can continue its growth in
numbers and as a leading career opportunity in the financial services space.

With the two unique perspectives from the focus groups, paired with the rest of the insights gained
through research, the following creative foundation was developed.
INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY STATEMENT
Every team, office, and community needs its next innovative mind
to lead the way. Make a difference today with the Synchrony
Financial Business Leadership Program.
This specific statement provides the the overarching benefit of being in BLP, which is the ability to
make a difference right away on a variety of levels. Based on the benefits presented, the biggest
takeaway from participants is that the program provides much more than an internship or rotation
assignment, but is a well-rounded experience driven by the individual’s interests and passions. This
statement illustrates the immediacy in which future participants can make an impact, while leaving room
for the marketing tactics to dig deeper into how it can be done. Through primary and secondary
research, the biggest differentiator for BLP has been its focus on community service, which is a top
value for the Millennial generation, and this statement shows that you are not just working for the
company, but for the greater good. Other well-received aspects of the program, such as access to
leadership, geographic movement, and exposure to a diverse culture, can be derived from this overall
statement, making it the proper choice to lead the strategy for the Business Leadership Program.
RATIONAL
Job-related
EMOTIONAL
Applicant-related
§ Top financial services company with
strong standing in the industry
§ Summer-long or Two-year on-the-
job training opportunity
§ Rotations across multiple locations
§ Access to leadership, mentors, and
sponsors
§ Diverse and inclusive culture
§ Core Values of Driven, Honesty,
Responsible, Passion, Caring, Bold
§ Immersive rotational projects
§ Automatic internal network of
program members and alumni
§ Built-in community service project
§ Ability to pursue a job with purpose
§ Opportunity to learn and grow
professionally
§ Encouraging and supportive work
environment
§ Flexibility in work hours/remote
capability
§ Access to and interaction with
leadership
§ Culture built to celebrate and
embrace diversity
§ Desire to perform relevant, impactful
work that will make a difference
§ Ability to give back to the greater
good
§ Technology-driven environment
§ Ability to travel, particularly overseas

CREATIVE BRIEF
Corp2College Communications,Incorporated
Client: Synchrony Financial Date: June 13, 2016
What is the Integrated Communications Strategy Statement?
Every team, office, and community needs its next innovative mind to lead the way. Make a difference
today with the Synchrony FinancialBusinessLeadership Program.
Why are we advertising?
To increase awarenessof the Business Leadership Program (BLP) as a top internship and full-time
rotationalprogram in the financial servicesindustry.
Whom are we talking to?
Current undergraduate and graduate studentsin disciplines recruited by BLP. Secondaryand tertiary
target markets include student-facing campuspersonneland current SynchronyFinancialemployees,
respectively.
What do they currently think?
The Business Leadership Program is a new option among the leadership programs available to
undergraduate and graduate studentsrun by a company that may or may not be familiar to them. The
program offers a very different opportunity, but, because it is new, they may be skepticalif it lives up to
what is being marketed.
What is the single most persuasive idea we can convey?
BLP provides studentsand graduates with a unique experience in both structure and company
atmosphere that cannot be found in other financial services companies.
Why should they believe/think it?
Current participants are experiencing the promisesof the program plus more and can testify to the true
investment that has been put into this program to drive an experience that they would not have
received elsewhere.
What are the creative and media guidelines?
Creative executions should include stillimagery and videos for digital distribution, socialmedia
pages/accounts, and physicalrecruiting materials (banners,brochures, postcards,giveaways,etc.). All
proposed marketing and communications channels should reflect the desired brand personality defined
by the following descriptors: approachable, well-rounded, driven,and professional. The tone in the
creatives should reflect a mix of storytelling and testimonials. Sample creativespresented in this
proposalprovide generic direction but, once executed, should reflectthe correct corporate brand
personality as defined by SynchronyFinancialat the time of the campaign launch.

COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
Campaign Goal
The overall purpose of this campaign is to increase awareness of the Business Leadership Program
and strengthen the Synchrony Financial employer brand in the minds of today’s Millennial job-
seekers. Leveraging this purpose as the foundation for the campaign’s strategies and tactics, the
specific goal of this campaign is to increase submitted applications for full-time and internship
opportunities to at least 3,500 during the 2017-2018 recruiting season.
Communications Objectives
With a focus on increasing awareness of the program and strengthening the overall employer brand
to drive application volume, messaging will be year-round, with its heaviest concentration during
Fall semester recruiting season centered around August and September. There will be additional
heavy communications periods during defined "special" times in the program such as orientation
activities and the one-month cross-functionaland community service portions of the program that
will help to further promote the unique aspects of the program.
As a result, the following communications objectives will drive the proposed campaign:
1. Reach 85% of BLP-eligible students at partner campuses at least 6 times during the August
and September 2017 recruiting season
2. Reach 40% of BLP-eligible students at least 4 times per month during special event periods of
2017-2018 campaign
3. Achieve 65% coverage across both BLP-eligible students and campus personnel in a one-
year period from July 2017 to June 2018, averaging between 2 and 3 impressions per month
4. Increase Synchrony Financial employee awareness of the BLP program to 75% during the
one-year period of July 2017 to July 2018 through at least 2 impressions per quarter
Understanding that the program has both very targeted and broader audiences, the
communications objectives specifically state how the campaign will target the wider national
audience, the more specific audiences on the campuses with which Synchrony Financial has built a
relationship, and those that currently work for the company. The BLP-eligible students include those
meeting the program requirements as identified on page 22 and the current partner campuses
include those 30+ campuses that will be properly identified by the BLP office going into the 2017-
2018 recruiting season.
In the following sections, the specific communications strategies and tactics are listed by each
identified target audience – potential applicants, campus personnel, and current employees. Listed
with each tactic are the rationale and category of evaluation as researched and defined by
Corp2College. Additional detail around the timing, evaluation methods, and total campaign budget
are provided beginning on page 61.

PRESS RELEASE: FIRST GRADUATING CLASS
Description
To kick off the campaign, it is recommended that Synchrony Financial generate a press release
announcing the graduation of their first-ever BLP Class. This press release should re-introduce
the program briefly, but focus on details of the graduating class, their accomplishments, and their
next steps in the company to illustrate the entire two-year experience that has now been
completed. The next page provides a sample press release to be used for this purpose.
Rationale
Unlike many other programs, BLP has a unique story to share – its first graduating class from a
program that has gone to market with a structure that is different from your average experience.
With this inaugural class graduating at the start of this campaign, the program can finally share the
total BLP experience from beginning to end and close any gaps that may have been identified by
students, campus personnel, or current employees. Soon to be supported by content on the other
proposed channels, this press release can be shared in the media currently used by the company
to help bring broader awareness to the unique aspects that can, by this time, show as being
successfulinstead of being just a promise. Ultimately, this press release will serve as a
preliminary touchpoint in the campaign across all audiences and launch the story-telling nature of
the campaign.
Evaluation
The success of circulating this initial press release as well as any others will be measured by
media content analysis.
PRE-CAMPAIGN TACTIC

For Immediate Release
July 1, 2017
Synchrony Financial BLP Celebrates First Program Graduates
Business LeadershipProgram proves successful as first new hire class graduates
Stamford, CT (July 1, 2017) – The Synchrony Financial Business LeadershipProgram is an entry-level and
experienced internship andfull-time career opportunity for current undergraduateand graduatestudents designed to
develop the industry’s next leaders. The program provides participants with immersive projects in functional tracks
including Data Analytics, Enterprise Operations, Finance, HR, Internal Audit, IT, Marketing, Risk & Credit, and Sales
& Relationship Management duringthe summer or in three, eight-monthrotations across its U.S. locations with the
purpose of developing thecompany’s next leaders. Launchedin Summer 2015, theprogram now celebrates its first
full-time graduating class.
The Business Leadership Program brings a very uniqueexperience to Synchrony’s new hires andthis inaugural
class of 50 BLPs is excited to have beenable to be thefirst to dive in. “As I searched for different rotational
programs to apply for, BLP instantly stood out becauseit is not everyday that you seecompanies so dedicatedto a
well-rounded experiencethat they build cross-functional and community service activities right into theprogram’s
structure. After my two years, that promise has been fulfilled and I am ready to take on my first off-program role”,
shares one of the graduates that has just completedthe Financetrack. By developinga program that includes two,
one-month long cross-functional experiences anda one-month community service experience, Synchrony Financial
came to market with a very unique experience, standing outfrom other opportunities available to recent graduates.
“I am extremely excited for the Class of 2017! It is never easy to launch somethingnew, but our inaugural class was
ready to roll up their sleeves and be flexible as we embarked on this journey together,” statedStephen Kennedy,
Vice President, Leadership Programs. “We are truly invested in the success of our program participants whether
they are here for one summer or two years and it is a testament to that dedication that we are celebratinga 100%
retention rate and are in the process of placing our graduating class into full-time positions in their respective
functions. We are looking forward to working with our future classes and heading back out to campuses in the Fall to
find our new talent!”
The Synchrony Financial Business Leadership Program actively recruits new talent for internshipand full-time
opportunities duringthe Fall semester of each academic year. For additional information aboutthe program, visit
synchronyfinancial.com/university.
###
About Synchrony Financial
Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is one of the nation’s premier consumer financial services companies.Our roots
in consumer finance trace back to 1932, andtoday we are the largest provider of private label credit cards in the
United States basedon purchase volume and receivables. We providea rangeof credit products through programs
we have establishedwith a diverse group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying
groups, industry associations and healthcare service providers to help generategrowth for our partners and offer
financial flexibility to our customers. Through our partners’ over 350,000 locations across theUnited States and
Canada, and their websites and mobile applications, we offer our customers a variety of credit products to finance
the purchase of goods andservices. Synchrony Financial (formerly GE Capital Retail Finance) offers private label
and co-branded Dual Card™ credit cards, promotional financingandinstallment lending, loyalty programs andFDIC-
insured savings products throughSynchrony Bank.

PRIMARY AUDIENCE: POTENTIALAPPLICANTS
Communications targeting the primary audience of current Millennials eligible for the Business
Leadership Program will help this campaign in achieving its main goal of awareness to drive
incremental applications over time. The leading strategies targeting potential applicants will help to
show students that what the program promises to be is actually being experienced by current
participants and will expand on the stories showing them what their journey may look like if they are
hired. The success of these strategies is dependent on reaching the students where they are and
sharing aspects of the program that matter most to this generation, showing that Synchrony
Financial is a great place to work and that the Business Leadership Program will meet their needs
as a valuable and desirable work experience.
STRATEGIES
1. Educate the potential candidate population on the Business Leadership Program through
Synchrony-sponsored online and offline communications and events.
2. Engage potential candidates throughout and beyond the recruiting season via online channels
to drive understanding around what a career with Synchrony Financial through the Business
Leadership Program would entail.
TACTICS
CAMPUS COLLATERAL & WEBSITE REDESIGN
As the BLP office continues to leverage internal volunteers to attend career fairs and other campus
events on behalf of the company, the collateral used, as well as the current website to which
students are directed for more information and to apply, must be refreshed to reflect the proposed
new messaging. While pop-up banners and brochures with details about the program and postcards
used to invite students to visit the website or visit recruiters at another event are standard and can
remain as the key collateral, new giveaways can be used to reflect the direction of the corporate
brand, basis of the campaign, as well as students’ core needs.
A new website design in addition to the following collateral will be illustrated in further detail on the
next few pages:
Pop Up Banners Brochures Postcards
Earbuds with Microphone 4-Port USB Hub Sports Bottles Pens
Evaluation
Given that campus collateral and website visits around the time of proactive recruiting can be
directly connected to the activities held, the evaluation of how the listed tactics drive success of the
overall objectives will be measured based on both student touches and website visits.

WEBSITE
ABOUT SYF WHYBLP? FULL-TIME INTERNSHIP CAREER COUNSELOR APPLY FOLLOW US!
Every team…
Every Office…
Every Community…
Are you ready to make a difference?
…is looking for YOU to take the lead.
Description
The redesigned website will reflect the “Every team, Every office, Every community” theme that
will serve as the foundation of this campaign. This new theme has the goal of bringing the BLP
story to life with added use of actual participant photos instead of the icons that are currently used
to illustrate aspects of the program. While the overall content detailing the company and program
will remain the same, the colored bars will hyperlink to relevant content such as testimonials of
how participants were able to become leaders within their rotations (team), potential locations by
track (office), and examples of volunteer experiences by the participants (community).
Rationale
When potential applicants are not attending in-person recruiting events to hear about BLP first-
hand, online channels are their go-to source to gain additional information and to, hopefully, apply.
The website must help tell the entire BLP story and, by leveraging photos and testimonials from
current BLPs, the potential applicants can visualize what their future may entail.

POP-UP BANNERS
Description
These pop-up banners will serve as the focal point of any career fair setup and, consequently,
must give the key facts about the program to drive students to want to learn more. The order of
these banners tell a story for students by showing how they can impact various teams, locations,
and communities during their time in the program. Additionally, these banners give an idea of what
functions and locations they may be able to work in and where to get more information but, with
recruiters present, can dig deeper into what the program is all about right away.
Rationale
Unlike the website that tells the full story, these banners give a teaser to make students want to
learn more and truly serve as a conversation starter. The banners follow the story presented in
this campaign to pique the interest of students but, given the use of the banners at recruiting
events, still leave room for questions that recruiters and other channels can help to answer.
BUSINESS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Every team… Every office… Every community…
Through 10-12 week internships
or three eight-month rotations,
you have the chance to quickly
become the new innovative mind
on your team with immersive,
management-driven projects.
Whether it is just for the summer
or for two years, be prepared to
become a thought leader at one or
more of our locations across the
nation that help to run our
financing programs for over
50,000 retailers and
healthcare providers.
In addition to serving our
customers, we are also dedicated
to serving the communities
around us. We provide a wide
range of opportunities for you to
join us in giving back and being a
helping hand in your community
during the BLP experience.
Undergraduate Tracks:
Data Analytics
Enterprise Operations Finance
Internal Audit
IT
Risk & Credit
Sales & Relationship
Management
Graduate Tracks:
HR
Marketing
Available Locations: Learn more today!
SynchronyFinancial.com/University

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM BROCHURE
CAMPUS EVENT/INVITATION POSTCARD
Content:
• Letter from CEO Margaret Keane
• About Synchrony Financial
• History/Background
• Key Partners
• Diversity & Inclusion Focus
• About Business Leadership Program
• Internship & Full-Time Structure
• Photos
• Participant Testimonials
• Career Counselor Content
• Website/Social Media Channels
Business Leadership
Program
Every team, every office, and every community is lookingfor youto take
the lead…
Business Leadership
Program
Every team, every office, and every community is lookingfor youto take
the lead…
Visit
synchronyfinancial.com/
university and follow us
on social!
Have an SYF
information session or
interview coming up?
Make a note here!
Event _________
Date _________
Time _________
Place _________

GIVEAWAYS
In particular, the proposed giveaways – earbuds with a microphone, 4-port USB hub, sports bottles, and
the classic pen – are all indicative of an active lifestyle needing convenience, which is not just common
for Millennial college students, but a lifestyle also common to those in BLP as they become active in the
workplace during their internships and short-term rotations across the nation. Overall, while the career
fair or other campus events where this collateral will be initially displayed serve as one impression, the
giveaways that students would potentially use as much as daily continue to place the Synchrony brand
in front of them to drive awareness.
Rationale: The USB hub allows students to charge
their multiple devices using just one main USB input
such as a laptop or wall or car charger.
Rationale: Though students are more than likely to
already have one or more sets, the earbuds with
microphone help drive greater convenience,
allowing them to place one in their bags while on the
go and leaving the other ones in their room or in
their car.
Rationale: The sports bottle allows students to
enjoy a refreshing beverage whether in their room or
on the go in class, at the gym, or running errands on or
off campus, with a convenient clip.
Rationale: The pen, though a classic giveaway, keeps
students prepared and, with a bright color matching the
SYF brand, makes it easy to find in a bag or other storage
place.

SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL FUTURE LEADERS SYMPOSIUM
Description
The Synchrony Financial Future
Leaders Symposium is a 3-day
leadership conference for 25 top
students from across the nation in
their sophomore or junior year.
The symposium will provide the
selected students with exposure
to the business, its culture, and
career opportunities.
FUTURE LEADERS SYMPOSIUM
The Symposium, to be held at the headquarters in Stamford, CT, will consist of the following:
• Professional development workshops led by senior leaders from across the business
• BLP Full-Time and Internship Overviews
• Fireside chats with executive leaders
• Lunch & Learns with current BLPs
• Diversity Network Overviews
• Site Tour
• Community Service Event
To be considered, applicants must have a 3.2 GPA and must meet the other minimum academic and
major requirements as detailed for the Business Leadership Program, as this symposium will want to
attract a select, top-tier group within the potential applicant population. They must also submit a 500-
word essay about how they consider themselves to be a leader on their campus or in their communities
today, supported by two recommendation letters from academic and/or community leaders.
Rationale
The key to awareness amongst students is getting relevant information about their potential on-
the-job experiences before it is time for them to make decisions about applying for, as well as
accepting, internship and full-time opportunities. While other tactics both online and offline
propose to give an inside look into the BLP experience, a leadership symposium brings first-hand
immersion into the company, creates a potential pipeline for hiring, and develops a set of campus
advocates for the company.
Evaluation
With the purpose of exposing students to the company and its career opportunities, this
symposium’s success will be measured by the count of applications and new hires that come
from those that attended.

BLP BLOG – BLP InSync
Description
BLP InSync will be a blog run by current BLPs and BLP Interns containing weekly content about
the BLP and overall Synchrony Financial experience. It will be hosted on the University homepage
under the “Follow Us!” content group. Content on the blog will include the following to give
potential applicants an inside look into the on-the-job experiences beyond what they learn when
they interact with representatives during campus activities:
• Program Overview
• Current Participant Testimonials
• Special Event Overviews (i.e. Symposium, Cross-Functional, Community Service, Special
Projects, etc.)
• Rotation Overviews
• SYF Leadership Interviews (i.e. Assignment leaders, Executive leadership, etc.)
• BLP Alumni Spotlights
To generate and maintain interest in the content, it is recommended that the media used differs
from week to week. For example, if the first post is a video introduction to the program, the next
week’s should be a written post about a BLP’s rotation experience, and the next should be a
slideshow of a community service project completed at one of the sites by BLPs, for example.
The BLP InSync blog will serve as the main source of online content to feed into the new BLP-
specific social media pages that are proposed in the following pages. While the social media
pages will provide small chunks of the information as well as other specific content relevant to the
channel, it is the goal that followers are driven to blog for the full article, video, etc., when
applicable.
Rationale
After making connections with students on campus, driving them to this blog, as well as the other
online media, will keep them connected with Synchrony, truly understanding what their experience
may entail no matter where they may land if they are hired. As stated earlier in this proposal,
Millennial job seekers look to people and culture fit, career potential, and work/life balance as their
top 3 aspects of an employer that they look for when making decisions. It is difficult to truly
validate the experience from the perspective of one recruiting team during campus activities,
whether at career fairs, information sessions, or other events that may be planned. This blog will
bridge the gap and give an ongoing first-hand view of what it is like to work for Synchrony
Financial starting as a BLP and moving forward.
The launch and maintenance of the BLP InSync blog and other online content also brings the
opportunity for BLPs to form a committee and work together outside of their rotational projects to
create content, which will allow them to learn new skills and will keep them further connected
across tracks and locations.
Evaluation
As a social channel, the success of the blog will be measured using media engagement metrics.

BLP-SPECIFIC SOCIAL MEDIA
Description
The BLP-specific social media accounts listed above will allow BLP to get its own targeted
messaging out to potential applicants instead of relying on the Synchrony Financial Careers
accounts that are currently active. As stated prior, the BLP InSync blog will provide a lot of the
source content, but each of the accounts will help engage the target audience when recruiters are
and are not on campus by including content that is relevant to that channel. For example, Twitter
will help BLP engage with students and campuses in real-time, Snapchat and Facebook can allow
for live coverage of special events sponsored by BLP, and Instagram can feature photos of
recruiting teams out on campus or BLPs in action, among other channel-specific content. The
following pages illustrate potential imagery on the new accounts as well as some sample content.
@SYFBLP @SYFBLP
@SYFBLP
Synchrony Financial
Business Leadership
Program
BLP Playlist on
Synchrony Financial
Channel
Synchrony Financial
Business Leadership
Program
Rationale
One of the biggest opportunities that BLP currently has is to develop a foundation for its targeted
messaging beyond in-person campus events and the current website. Outside of the website, the
online messaging around BLP is included in the overall conversation about Synchrony career
opportunities and, as a result, can get lost in content created for a very broad audience including
any individual looking for a role ranging from a call center associate to an executive level
management position. By creating BLP-specific accounts, there lies more opportunity to direct
students to channels that have a message that is always relevant to them. This targeted approach
would allow the BLP office, current participants, and potential applicants, as well as other
stakeholders and audiences to engage with each other in a more effective way.
As recommended with the BLP InSync blog, the BLP committee working on the blog will also
serve in a role to drive the ongoing content for these pages. With recommendations and
assistance from Corp2College and Synchrony’s own communications experts that drive content
for the corporate accounts, BLPs can tell their own story and further build their skills beyond their
rotations along the way.
Evaluation
To measure the success of the new channels, Social Media Engagement Tools & Media
Analysis currently used by the company will be leveraged.

Synchrony Financial Business Leadership Program
Synchrony Financial BLP
@SYFBLP
BLP is an entry-level and experienced
internship and full-time career opportunity
for current undergraduate and graduate
students designed to develop the
industry’s next leaders.
Stamford, CT
syf.com/university
Synchrony
Financial
Business
Leadership
Program
Synchrony
Financial
Business
Leadership
Program

Synchrony Financial Business Leadership Program
Building bikes for charity!
#BLPService #EveryCommunity
SYFBLP
Synchrony Financial BLP
BLP is an entry-level and experienced internship and full-time
career opportunity for current undergraduate and graduate
students designed to develop the industry’s next leaders.
Visit us at syf.com/university.

YouTube Playlist Potential Content:
• Business Leadership Program Overview
• Intern and Full-Time Testimonials
• Day-In-The-Life Compilation by Functional Track (Source: Snapchat)
• Community Service Video Compilations
• Recorded sessions (i.e. BLP Chats)
How does the Business Leadership Program work?
Synchrony Financial
Synchrony Financial
BLP Playlist
CONTENT DISSEMINATION
To ensure timely communication of content added to any channel, additional promotional
content will be created to post on the other channels to drive traffic to the channel hosting the
content. For example, if the video sample on the next page were initially posted to the BLP
InSync blog and YouTube playlist, simplified content, such as a photo, image, or quote
representative of the video will be shared on the other accounts to announce the new content.

SAMPLE ROTATION SPOTLIGHT VIDEO
The following storyboard provides a sample video – a rotation spotlight - that can be developed by
the BLPs for posting to the new BLP social accounts. This sample video is a quick spotlight
detailing one BLP’s rotation experience to help tell the story of how the program delivers on
providing participants with diverse, dynamic assignments to help them develop new skills and
become leaders in their rotations.
Hi! My name is Ashley and I am a
BLP on the Sales and
Relationship Management track.
I have just completed my second
rotation with Belk, a clothing
retailer based in Charlotte, NC.
My main rotation project was to
launch Salesforce.com tools for
our field team.
Field sales teams across the
company spend time in assigned
territories where they visit our
various partners to keep them up
to date on their successes with
their Synchrony credit programs.
The tools that I launched made
these interactions easier for our
field team because it organized
the key conversation points right
on their iPads in easy to read
charts and graphs.
Lucky for me, the rotation didn’t
end there. I also had the chance
to help our field team manage
grand openings for Belk, including
their first San Antonio area store.
And, last but not least, being on
rotation during Belk’s 125th
Anniversary celebration, I was
able to participate in their 125
Days of Service alongside
Synchrony and Belk employees in
both the Charlotte and Atlanta
markets.
My time with the Belk team taught
me a ton about how our larger
retail partners operate and gave
me a chance to learn a lot of new
skills as I move into my next
rotation with our Payment
Solutions business!
But this was just my experience.
Continue to look out for more of
these videos from my fellow
BLPs! For more information,
make sure to check
synchronyfinancial.com/university
and our BLP InSync blog!
Salesforce.comis a customer relationship
management toolthat holds all of our clients’
program metrics.
Visit synchronyfinancial.com/
university and follow us on social!

BLP CHATS
Description
BLP Chats will be a set of Facebook live events for students wishing to apply for the program.
Hosted by a panel of BLPs across various tracks, viewers will be provided an overview of the
program and the panel’s experiences, as well as interact with the panel through Q&A. These live
chats will occur prior to major Fall recruiting dates, with the intent of serving as a preview into the
company to drive higher engagement during application season. Recordings and FAQs from
these sessions can be posted on the blog for later review. Outside of leveraging the social
channels to promote the upcoming chats, established campus relationships will allow recruiting
teams to disseminate the invitations through their key contacts at partner campuses.
Rationale
The Chats will allow for real-time face-to-face interaction with current program members to
capitalize on the added engagement driven by the new communications channels. With an
audience that will tend to primarily consist of students from partner campuses, interested students
have a way to learn more early on and be better prepared for in-person interactions on campus.
For those that do not have campus presence by Synchrony, this allows insight into the program
despite the lack of in-person contact.
SNAPCHAT TAKEOVERS
Description
In order to provide additional transparency into the program, Snapchat takeovers will give
followers a true, in-the-moment view of what it is like to be a BLP. BLP volunteers across the
various tracks and locations will be scheduled to “take over” the BLP Snapchat account for one
day to provide a day-in-the-life view of the BLP experience for followers. These Snapchat stories
may include real-time insight into meetings, projects, community service, diversity network
involvement, special site events, and anything else that illustrates a day in the office for that BLP.
Rationale
While content on the new BLP-focused accounts will help to better tell the story of the program,
Snapchat takeovers will assist in bringing the other content to life by providing a first-hand view of
the BLP experience. Takeovers have become very common on this channel across various
media, entertainment, and corporate entities, and will allow the BLP account to bring more
attention to the day-to-day experience of multiple program participants through real-time video.
LIVE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
The following two tactics – BLP Chats & Snapchat Takeovers – are two very specific tactics that
will further engage the target audience in real-time on the new social accounts.

BUZZFEED PARTNERSHIP
Description
By establishing a brand partnership with BuzzFeed, BLP will have the ability to work with BuzzFeed
staff to produce content relevant to the target audience for posting to the site and leveraging the
platform’s exceptional ability to share content amongst the Millennial generation to drive brand
awareness.
Potential content can include quarterly articles that are relevant to the time period, such as the
following:
• Q1: What It’s Really Like To Work In The Real World (Video featuring BLPs)
• Q2: Top 5 Ways Millennials Can Perfect Their Professional Brand Online (Listicle featuring
quotes/tips from BLPs)
• Q3: What real world function are you meant to work in? (Quiz)
• Q4: 10 Tips To Perfectly Navigate A Career Fair (Listicle)
Rationale
The most important aspect of this campaign, specifically for the Millennial/potential applicant
audience, is to reach them where they are amongst the wide array of options that they use to get
information. BuzzFeed (2016), “a cross-platform, global network for news and entertainment”,
receives over 200 million unique visitors each month, and 50% of this group falls into the 18-34-year-
old age bracket that this campaign is looking to primarily target. With this partnership, Synchrony
Financial and BLP can find a niche by leveraging a continuously growing and popular Millennial-
focused online channel to spread awareness using content that is relevant to any job seeker, but
Synchrony branded.
Evaluation
The success of the partnership will be measured by BuzzFeed analytic tools provided as part of the
partnership.

Integrated Marketing Campaign Proposal - Synchrony Financial Business Leadership Program (July 2016)

Integrated Marketing Campaign Proposal - Synchrony Financial Business Leadership Program (July 2016)

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