Publicis takes $150m Citi account from Fallon

by Staff, Brand Republic 01-May-07, 09:10

NEW YORK - Publicis has picked up the $150m (£75m) global creative duties for financial services company Citi from sister Publicis Groupe ad agency Fallon.

The appointment covers advertising campaigns for the company's global corporate brand identity and global consumer group.

Citi, which was previously Citigroup, has more than 200m customer accounts in more than 100 countries. The finance firm's portfolio includes Citi Cards, CitiFinancial, CitiMortgage, CitiInsurance, Primerica, Diners Club, Citi Private Bank, and CitiCapital.

The firm's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Citi Smith Barney and Banamex.

Lisa Caputo, chief marketing and community relations officer for the global consumer group at Citi, said: "As we considered how best to support our marketing initiatives, beginning with our corporate brand identity campaign, we looked for a company with extraordinary domestic and international capabilities."

Citi will introduce a new corporate brand identity advertising campaign, developed by the Publicis team, in May of this year. The themes from that campaign will be integrated into Citi's advertising and marketing programs for its global consumer group's products and services.

Publicis had previously worked on an individual campaign, addressing identity theft crimes against banking customers.

Fallon will continue to provide support on the Citi account in select international markets, the financial services company said.

Caputo added: "Publicis will help propel our Citi brand identity messaging and deliver strategic advertising support for our outstanding array of financial products and services."

In January, Citigroup acquired Prudential-owned online bank Egg for £575m in the UK. The purchase includes more than 3m Egg customers, products and services, including online payment, saving accounts, mortgages, insurance and investments.

The creative account for Egg is handled by Mother and is not affected by the appointment.