Objectives

PwC's PR and Social Media Team wanted to create a game-changing campaign based on what could be perceived as a dry and crowded subject matter - financial literacy. We accepted the challenge to boost awareness of an already-existing firmwide corporate responsibility commitment called Earn Your Future. Our leaders and staff had been teaching financial literacy in classrooms all over the United States, but we wanted to do more to capture the attention of young people - especially those in underserved communities. We were committed to raising awareness of the issues related to financial literacy and student loan debt. Without this financial foundation, we know the kids who could be tomorrow's leaders will bear the burden of crushing debt that will change the course of the careers and even, collectively, impact the health of our nation's economy. Key campaign goals are outlined as follows:

1. Highlight PwC's leadership in the area of financial education
2. Position PwC as an employer of choice and thought leader on key issues, including: student debt, financial literacy, workforce preparedness, diversity and equal opportunity for minorities, women and girls, immigrants and veterans
3. Teach students how to make smart financial decisions when planning for the future
4. Position PwC differently in the minds of our people, our recruits and the media

Strategy and Execution

In order to achieve our campaign goals, we enlisted Dee-1, a rapper and former 7th grade math teacher, who shared our passion for preparing kids for their financial future. You can imagine the challenge of approaching our leadership and telling them that our 150 year old accounting firm was going to hire a rapper! We took the risk and it paid off. Dee is dynamic, savvy, and impactful on social media. Dee-1 partnered with PwC as a social media influencer to produce content for Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat highlighting the importance of financial education. This included but was not limited to:

• Tips-of- of-the- week within the structure of PwC's financial literacy curriculum
• Visual assets, selfies, and photographs of Dee interacting with students and PwC professionals while sharing curriculum details
• Snapchat short film around the idea of financial literacy
• The writing and recording of a short-film for audiences on or off Snapchat
• General social content with the goal of making personal financial lessons tangible while illustrating the importance of smart financial decision-making
• Dee-1 visited three cities as part of a small roadshow to facilitate a conversation about financial literacy in key PwC markets – Washington D.C., New York and Houston and visited locations like elementary schools, colleges and PwC offices. He joined PwC leaders to visit schools and perform his anthem Sallie Mae Back, the story of him paying off his student loans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqbXQa05Z6c)
• Dee-1 helped attract media attention with outlets ranging from hip hop blogs/publications, to CNN, Time Magazine, Forbes, Washington Post, Huffington Post – to secure coverage of his campaign work with PwC

Results

• Nearly 400 million media impressions from 40+ hits. Coverage stemmed from one announcement event and four high school visits over six days, including stories in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Forbes, Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien and EdSurge.
• 100 percent positive sentiment in the media highlighting our leadership in the area of financial education. Top headlines include: "PwC and Rap Artist Dee-1 Join Forces to Teach Houston YES Prep Students About Financial Literacy"; and "Dee-1's "Sallie Mae" Lands Him A Collaboration With PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Consulting Firm".
• Thought-provoking social campaign around our efforts to educate followers in the areas of financial literacy, student debt, workforce preparedness, and diversity.
  • More than 1 million organic Twitter impressions with 96% engagement rate
  • FIRST ever use of a celebrity spokesperson, Dee-1, nationally and locally. The students at the schools were enamored by Dee-1, who helped to amplify our finlit messaging in a relatable manner
  • FIRST standing ovation from the 1700+ crowd of influencers
  • FIRST interview on Cheddar, the hottest new media platform for millennials
  • FIRST Facebook Live segment featuring Shannon and Dee-1
  • BEST PERFORMING organic Snapchat campaign ever in terms of Snaps viewed, and the second-best performing campaign ever

Print/Online
Total Articles: 40
Total Pick Ups: 13

Nearly 400 million media impressions

Broadcast
Total Hits: 6

Complete Analysis
Total Impressions: 366,507,068

Total Placements: 46

Total Pick Ups: 13

Media