Global Bank Citi, as a marquee sponsor of the 2014 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), created a triple activation for its ThankYou credit card. It combined organizing an exclusive, private concert with 9-time GRAMMY Award-winner John Legend with Pre-sale tickets, a custom flyaway sweepstakes and VIP packages. . This generated original branded content, social media and PR that drove traffic to its website to learn more about the product, which offers 2X the points for dining and entertainment purchases.

The promo/activation included:

a. A private John Legend concert prior to the BBMAs

b. “A Trip to the BBMA” Sweepstakes

c. VIP packages and pre-sale tickets

d. A :60 TV spot seamlessly integrated into the live award show

e. Five :30 TV Spots

f. Branded lead-out bumpers and billboards

g. Digital media on Billboard.com

h. Social promotion via Citi, Billboard and BBMA-owned channels

i. Onsite activation at official pre- and post-parties

Citi wanted to increase brand awareness and activate transactions on its Citi ThankYou card, which offers 2x points for dining, entertainment and unparalleled access. Citi knows, 30% of people aware of the card’s benefits are likely to recommend it to others.

Citi wanted a high-profile awards show sponsorship that would appeal to current and prospective cardmembers across multiple paid, earned and owned channels. Music was a natural, strategic fit and Grammy Award-winner John Legend provided the desired cache. The BBMA deal created a never-been-done-before, integrated mix of promotion/activation, exclusive concert access, branded content and social media engagement.

o Citi website traffic grew significantly, particularly during the awards broadcast, as did card applications.

o Citi’s Twitter followers rose 4% during the promotion, twice the company average for prior efforts. Legend’s appearance was the broadcast’s second most popular Tweet subject, 98 percent of which were positive.

o Sweepstakes generated 10+ million Twitter impressions in 7 days and 20 million social hits during the week before the awards. The resulting 4,000+ entries were five times the industry average.

o Social traffic earned 44M impressions from May 1–20, more than doubling the number achieved by other #CitiThankYouRocks activations

o The Awards and Legend’s performance posted 100M press impressions for Citi

o The BBMAs had nearly 10.5 million total viewers, more than 50% in Citi’s key 18-49-year-old target.

o The promotion continues to draw attention; nearly 3.1 million people have viewed the spot on YouTube thanks to Legend’s engaging, insightful approach.

Because the ThankYou card offers 2x points for dining and entertainment, a music-related promotion was a natural fit. Cardmembers would likely dine out on the night of the two events.

o Billboard announced Citi as a marquee sponsor (April 4, 2014)

o The promotion launched (4/11) via a Citi email to cardmembers offering tickets to a small, exclusive concert with Legend. Citi then:

o Offered presale tickets and VIP packages to the BBMAs (4/12)

o Hosted private concert in LA (4/21)

o Launched flyaway sweepstakes to win a trip to the BBMAs (5/2-7)

o Branded content from the private concert distributed via social media (5/12-18)

o 60-second spot with private concert footage debuted on BBMA broadcast (5/18). This included a live intro by Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen followed directly by his performance on the awards show.

o Donated percentage of concert proceeds to non-profit Teach for America (6/14)