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Company: City National Bank
Nomination Submitted by: Critical Mass
Company Description: At City National Bank, we make it our business to be personal. Since our founding in 1954, we've always prioritized helping our clients, colleagues and communities flourish, and our legacy of integrity and unparalleled client relationships continues to drive strong growth today. Along with personal, private and business banking, City National makes available wealth management, brokerage and leas
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Specialty
Nomination Sub Category: Brand Experience of the Year - Consumer
 Nomination Title: City National Bank: Preferred Residential Media Plan Campaign
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
September 8, 2021 - October 31, 2021
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
The goal of City National's Preferred Residential campaign was to highlight and grow their Mortgage & Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) promotional offers by driving customer acquisitions in September and October—ideally high net-worth relationships. Typically, HELOC and mortgage marketing campaigns take place in the spring. However, City National Bank targeted the summer and fall months, with the insight that given the still relatively low-interest environment and the rollout of vaccinations, consumer sentiment would be strong, and competitive clutter would be low. Most retail lenders had pulled back from Home Equity since the start of COVID, so this presented a prime opportunity for CNB to reach out to clients and prospects. The objectives of this campaign focused on the lower end of the funnel, driving consideration of these offerings, and converting the target audience to sign up for a mortgage or HELOC through City National Bank. Additionally, City National Bank wanted to convey an offer consolidation and simplification of a client’s financial bigger picture—the "Preferred" client offering—helping a client look holistically at both sides of their balance sheet, and leading to added financial benefits (e.g., relationship pricing, refinancing at lower rates, and competitive HELOC promotional rates). City National Bank and Critical Mass aligned on brand direction, and explored contextual creative that aligned with consumers' use of City National Bank products and services as a way to stand out across channels. Furthermore, new partner platforms were explored to drive efficiency in conversions and ability to effectively optimize in-market.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 246 words used.
City National Bank and Critical Mass have learned that high net worth clients are looking for a relationship, trust, and pricing when it comes to financial services. Aside from price, these driving factors can be intangible and tough to measure. To effectively connect and resonate, we knew we needed to use imagery and language that was straightforward, easy to identify, and conveyed our understanding of our audience aspirations: making home improvements, purchasing their dream home, buying a big-ticket item, or capitalizing on a financially smart decision. To bring these aspirations to life creatively, we paired relevant and universally understood imagery with messaging and a tangible offer that welcomed clicks to learn more.
The Critical Mass and City National team leaned heavily into learnings from prior campaigns and pursued a 600% increase in spend on Facebook and Instagram (vs. a prior similar campaign), and launched City National's first-ever paid activation on Pinterest. We also deployed a mix of Programmatic Digital Display and Paid Search, ensuring frequency across channels, driving potential customers to the site, and converting at substantially higher than we've achieved in prior ad campaigns.
This campaign presented unique challenges, especially around targeting parameters and the need to remain compliant with regulations on advertising specific lending rates. Because we had to avoid normally available targeting levers (e.g., geo-targeting by zip code), we leaned heavily into context, relevancy, and retargeting to ensure frequency against those we knew were primed or had shown interest in the product.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2020. Even if your initiative started before 2020, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2020 only (up to 250 words):
Total 105 words used.
[REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
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