Overview

The Citibank Paragon credit card launched in 2008 needed to attract more cardmembers. In 2009, Activiste was asked to interpret consumer research findings into a creative strategy for the re-launch of the card.

Challenge

Inaugural campaign launched in 2008 did not meet customer recruitment targets. Following a customer segmentation & product feature study, we are asked to develop a market positioning and creative strategy to capitalize on the opportunities identified.

Solution

Through the research, we identified that the core segment that Paragon appealed to were affluent PMEB’s between the ages of 30-50 – many of whom had young families. Whilst half the patrons at the mall were aware that it had its own credit card, less than 9% of them actually had the card, and less than 5% of them used the card. The brand personality of the card, as expressed through the previous marketing campaign was perceived to be too young and trendy, and did not appeal to its core target segments.

We also found that 75% of the higher premium tier segment were male customers – and again, the previous campaign did not appear to target this segment.

A campaign that appealed to the core segments whilst retaining the “high fashion” feel that Paragon wanted to maintain were essential in turning the card marketing around. A collage approach that focused on the “Details that Matter” gave both Citibank and Paragon the opportunity to highlight the specific card benefits for patrons of the mall, as well as effectively target both male and female segments in the upper middle tier.

Results

The re-launched card campaign exceeded acquisition targets, in addition to substantial increases in the number of card members migrating to its platinum tier.