Banks were seen as powerful presences. Underpinning the global economy, and the success of individuals, families and businesses.
The largest, richest bank in the world. It had a presence in over 100 nations. Sports stadiums named after itself. And a marketing platform that promised “Dreams to Reality” for all its customers. There seemed to be nothing it couldn't achieve.
And then – the Financial Crisis happened.
Communities were devistated. And when people needed Citi most, the world's most powerful bank seemed powerless to help them.
So what can you do when a brand loses customer trust in such a radical way? That was the strategic challenge.
How do you help the bank at the center of the financial crisis examine and rethink its whole approach?
I believed Citi needed to to stop thinking like a bank. And start thinking like its opposite.
Not bluster. But mea culpa. Not powerful certainty. But humanity. Not abstract "vision". But practical solutions. A bank that never overpromised. But always kept it's word. And stood behind its communites when they needed it most. So that was our starting point.
THE CITI MANIFESTO.
MY AIM WAS TO NOT STOP AT MESSAGING. But examine every touchpoint of the Citibank brand. And see how these could be used to deliver a new type of bank for the new moment.
NEW LUNCH AND LEARN PROGRAM. Instead of buying sports stadiums, now we'd repurpose existing real estate to benefit struggling communities in practical ways.
CITI CHANGE CENTERS. Mall were emptying across America as recession bit. So let's fix that. By creating pop-up business startup centers in empty malls spaces across America. The spaces would then be left to successful new businesses.
CITI ARC AWARD. Citi had had a reputation as a thought leader and innovator in banking. It needed to regain that. So we proposed a major new internal program. Where new thinking and successful projects across Citi's 100+ nations could be effectively shared across the whole network.
This web-based awards scheme, would share the best thinking from every region and division – in a way every region could access. Identifying the next generation of thought-leaders across Citi's global network. And propagating their ideas more rapidly. The associated physical Arc Award, would be based on the iconic "Citi Arc". Which is itself a symbol of progress and challenges overcome.
"IMAGINE CITI" PROGRAM. New mechanisms to harness and incentivize the "outsider" thinking of new hires. To shake up an "establishment" mindset.
"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.
CITI TALK. What if we could individually tailor how we talked to each customer across all channels – based on the enormous amount Citi already knew about each customer? So everything from Call Centers to ATMs to the bank's online presence became more and more "naturalised" to each customer. Andcustomers find the "bombastic", univocal voice of a traditional bank with one that was more like their own?
CITI DISRUPT. What if we could disrupt the types of decision-making that lead to crisis, before they happen? What if every senior bank meeting now had a dedicated seat for the customer advocate - asking uncomfortable questions? Questions would be randomized and come from a be fed from a dedicated distribution device. The chair would be a different color. And who sat in it would be randomized too.
The basic principle came from archeological discoveries in Ancient Athens. But the rational was was modern - to disrupt the "groupthink" and avoidance of tricky questions that can happen in any large organization.
CITI TRIANGE PROGRAM. I conceived new financial products for the new moment. Including a micro-finance credit card that would help people focus aid to the needs of local communities. Leveraging Citi's exisiting expertise in micro-finance in developing nations.
Several aspects of Citi Renewed drove changes in Citi's approach. Most notably the "Manifesto". That became the basis of Publicis' Promises campaign which was rolled out in major cities.
The Arc Awards got greenlighted too. Bringing together best in practice thinking from Citi's network around the world. For faster organizational change. This became Landor's biggest digital project of the year.
"Citi Renewed" won Landor's global network's highest award. The Global T&T.
•Brand Strategy
•Creative Strategy
•Manifesto and core ideas
•New Product Development
•Copywriting
Core Team: Mike Kerr (Director of Writing)/Mark Kingsley (CD/Designer).
Designer: Carolyn Ashburn.
•MANAGING TEAMS. Briefing, managing, and co-ordinating internal and external teams on writing and naming projects. •PROACTIVELY INNOVATING NEW PROCESSES to cut costs and improve time to market.
•BRAND GUIDELINE DEVELOPMENT to standardize worldwide messaging.
•STRATEGY PROJECTS around card protection architectures and external partnerships.
•DIVERSITY and BRAND ENGAGEMENT program creation. Including creating diversity and engagement programs.
"Mike has an incredible work ethic and raging curiosity to learn new things - both hallmarks of great creative. He brings a volume of ideas and a sense of urgency to his work that I have rarely seen in my San Francisco years."
DAVID SHEARER, VP Marketing at Box
