Citi Ads Tout Systemwide ‘Thank You’ Points

Banking giant Citi has put a pair of oddballs in charge of pitching points in Citi’s first-ever ad campaign for its systemwide “Thank You” loyalty program.

TV and print ads themed “Very, very, very rewarding” showcase Citi’s checking accounts, mortgages, credit and debit cards as vehicles to earn points in a single account. The goal: Get consumers to use more of Citi’s services, more often.

“The deeper the relationship with Citi, the more the points add up,” said Bob O’Leary, Citi’s managing director of global advertising, in a statement. “Accruing rewards points is particularly compelling for both acquisition of new customers and loyalty among current customers.”

New York-based Citi, a division of Citigroup, developed the campaign to leverage its distinction as the only financial services firm with a holistic rewards program that pools points accrued through a wide range of banking (mortgage, checking, direct deposit) and credit-card activity, with Citi’s Premier Pass credit card. Points can be redeemed for a range of goodies from music downloads and DVDs to airline tickets.

The program has low redemption thresholds “so people don’t have to wait forever to redeem their points,” said Citigroup VP-Public Affairs Mark Rodgers. Program tiers base point levels on the number of product categories that consumers use, not on their account balances.

Citi timed the campaign to consumers’ heavy fourth-quarter spending, primarily for holidays. Individual product lines have advertised “Thank You” points before, but this is the first coordinated push across all business lines.

The eccentric ads star Roman, a European entrepreneur who’s determined to become the ultimate reward points earner. His young protégé, Victor, tracks all the points that Roman earns “Tiger fast” or “Rocket Fast.” Citi’s Web site features the duo rolling along a moving sidewalk through an airport, tallying up points (and miles) for purchases. “No madness can stop Citi’s many rewarding ways,” the site tells visitors in Roman’s tortured syntax. Atmosphere BBDO handles the Web site.

TV spots broke Oct. 22 and run through March 2007; print ads break in November publications. Fallon, Minneapolis, handles the campaign for Citigroup and hired film director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) to produce the spots and ads.

“Roman and Victor allowed us to talk about Citi’s multifaceted rewards points program in a way that was digestible and entertaining,” said Fallon Creative Director Kerry Feuerman in a statement. “It would be hard to watch these spots and forget who the client was and what they were offering. Hard to forget Roman and Victor, too.”