CITIBANK. CITI RENEWED.
Challenge: The Financial Crisis was a once in a lifetime event. Changing many people’s lives. And drastically altering people’s perceptions of the banks. Our client was Citibank. The world’s biggest bank. And suddenly the world’s most controversial bank too. How do you respond positively to the historic events surrounding the client? And the criticisms that the banking industry wasn’t looking out for real people at their time of greatest need?
Solution: We used Branding as an opportunity to craft a response to historic events. We called our response Citi Renewed. Our approach developed from discussions around promises. And Neitszche’s idea of the “Sovereign Individual”. True strength coming not coming from swagger. But the simple power to keep one’s word. Make no promise you couldn’t keep. But keep every promise you made. Whatever the circumstances. To deliver the certainty people needed in tough times.
(Agency: Landor Associates)
IT ALL STARTED WITH A MANIFESTO.
In the past Citi’s brand platform promised “Dreams to Reality”. But the effects of the Financial Crisis required company-wide change. This cultural shift would be signalled in the Manifesto - and experienced in in every interaction.
The Manifesto would appear in ads. Hang prominently in branches. And form the focal point of new internal programs.
Practical help for local people
The Manifesto promised a strong focus on working alongside people. So new programs for retail bank clients and small businesses were proposed. One of these was “Lunch and Learn”. First we looked at the typical brick and mortar bank. It’s a pretty common sight to see empty desks and short lines. Wealth management consultants rotate through branches. So there’s a lot of real estate which is underused.
Citi employs some pretty smart people. So let’s tap into that resource and have the brightest offer regular “Lunch and Learn” sessions in this underused space. To demonstrate Citi’s commitment to the local community without adding to capital expense.
“Citi Lunch and Learn”. Instead of raising Ciit’s profile by buying sports stadiums, now we'd repurpose existing real estate to benefit struggling communities in practical ways.
3. INNOVATIVE WAYS TO KICKSTART NEW BUSINESSES.
“Citi Change Centers”. Shopping malls were emptying across America as recession bit. So let's fix that. By creating pop-up business startup centers in empty shops. The spaces would then be left to successful new businesses.
4. NEW PROGRAMS TO IDENTIFY THE BEST NEW THINKING AND TOMORROW’S THOUGHT LEADERS.
“The Citi Arc Award”. Citi needed to regain its reputation as a thought leader. So we proposed a major new online awards program. A forum where innovative thinking across its 100+ nation network could be shared. Breakthrough ideas highlighted and awarded. And the next generation of thought-leaders could be rapidly identified. The Citi Arc Award was keenly adopted - and became Landor’s largest global digital project to that time.
5. NEW REWARDS FOR OUTSIDER THINKING.
“Imagine Citi” challenged accepted ways of doing things. Harnessing and rewarding ideas from outsiders and new employees to drive change.
6. NEW DIGITAL TOOLS TO BUILD TRANSPARENCY AND TRUST.
"Where Citi’s Helping Now" would be a range of app-based, online and in-store digital products. Designed to raise awareness of precisely where Citi was spending government TARP loans. You could see in real time, help arriving In your community. In the places – and on the things – that matter to you. Building community confidence and reducing mistrust.
7. TAILORING THE CITI VOICE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL.
“Citi Speaks your Language”
Phone banking already targets products to customers based on a variety of data points. But what if you could go further and create different categories of messaging and voicing for each customer interaction, based on circumstances and history? Using technology to enable us to provide a Citi experience more in tune with the understandings, experiences and presumptions of key demographics? So each phone and cashpoint interaction lowered the traditional barrier between a bank and its customers.
8. A LOCAL MICROFINANCE CREDIT CARD.
“Citi Triangle Funds”. Citi has worked in microfinance in developing nations. We suggested they bring that expertise back home. To signal their commitment to the community.
We conceived a product where banking consumers could invest in micro-financing initiatives in agriculture, their local communities, or even their family’s education and health care. Taking its symbol from the Delta, the mathematical and scientific sign for change, we called it the Citi Triangle Program.
Citi Renewed was one of those big, multilayered projects of real size and scale. Made more complicated -and more exciting- by the fact we were dealing with a political hot potato - at a time of major crisis. Not every idea made it through to the real world. But many did. Including the the launch of the global Citi Arc Awards program, while the core Citi Manifesto idea became the “Promises” campaign, seen here running across New York City.
Want to find out more? Here’s a 90 second overview from a brand perspective – narrated by Mark Kingsley, Global Creative Director, designer extraordinaire and my creative partner on this project.