The primary account holders of Citibank Bahrain consist mostly of young families with young children. The bank was looking to increase investments among this customer base, and decided to introduce a whole new product tailored to encourage more savings, a Children's Savings Account. The account aimed to push young parents to save up for their children's future studies. So, our brief was to let these customers know about this new account, through the usual in-house communication in all of the bank's branches.

Most internal messaging in Citibank was found to be loosely strewn leaflets and randomly placed posters that mostly went unnoticed. So we convinced the client to use the limited budget for an unusual yet effective ambient solution. We observed how all customers stopped at the side counters to write their cheques and bills. It is here that we replaced the pens found on these counters with colourful kids’ crayons. The eye-catching crayons had a simple message with a call-back number, which customers could dial for enquiries about the new account.

The creative stood out in more ways than one, the refreshingly different piece of communication drew much appreciation and attention, garnering a response of 117 phone calls within the first fifteen days it was placed. This would certainly have been impossible with the traditional messaging tools the client first expected. The idea is now being adapted regionally.