• Cost of getting more business from existing customer < Cost of acquiring new customer

• Economies of scale + Leveraging Citi’s strong global brand

• Key People involved to protect brand equity while extracting maximum benefits from the
merger
- Susan Avarde, Director of Global Branding
- Tim Teran, Director of Global Consumer Insights
- Anne MacDonald, MD Communications
• Decision to articulate the brand architecture of Citigroup
 The 3 potential brand architectures
• Worldwide Masterbrand model
Brand name that serves as the main anchoring point on which all underlying products are based

• Asymmetric Model
Revitalise the power brand while allowing all other brands to continue expressing their personalities

• Portfolio branding approach

Regrouping all Citigroup business under the two leading brands (Citibank and Travellers) and these two would be
realigned with Citigroup’s new values
The Background
• Glass Steagall Act of 1933 – US banks CANNOT conduct underwriting, insurance and other non bank
activities
• The Federal Reserve push for deregulation ensures many of the Act’s provision prohibiting commercial banks
from affiliating with insurance firms done with
• The Graham Leach Bliley (GLB) Act – Allows creation of new type of bank holding company called financial
holding company under which nonbank activities were organised in subsidiaries
• Relaxation of provisions + GLB = Increase Likelihood of Fed approval

Key Trends
• Change in customer demographics
• Technology changes
• Consolidation in banking industry
• Globalisation
• Goal – To achieve a market defining share of the world’s wealth and transactions
• Merger gave access to
- 60 million + banking customers and vice versa
- New distribution channels
Citibank Travellers Salomon Smith Barney
Largest US issuer – Credit Financial products offered $9.3 billion Equity Capital
Cards, Growing player in like life, automobile, $724 billion client assets
other countries homeowners and property In 6 million accounts
insurance
One of the largest Retail Annuities, packaged Managed client assets of
banks in the world mutual funds, IRAs and more than $253 billion
loans through Travellers
46 countries Life and Annuity, Travellers
1376 branches Property Casualty in the
serving 28 million accounts US
Citi Branding
• Predictable, recognizable, distinct experience seamlessly available anytime, anywhere
• Common set of attributes – quality, trust, globality, accessibility and innovation
• Brand name did not resonate same everywhere
- Asia Pacific: Upscale image because it did not solicit small accounts
- US: At par with other banks
Brand
• Brand as defined in US Banker – promise to customers regarding the company’s product or services
• Service businesses tougher to brand than products as they are associated with consistency, convenience and
service excellence rather than tangibles such as packaging, taste ,or color

4 Characteristics of consumer oriented icons

- Relevance
- Distinctiveness
- Ubiquity
- Consistency and dynamism

• Financial service organisations with strong brands – charge premium + attract & retain customers