The Challenge
Citizens is the Official Bank of the TCS NYC Marathon. But "bank" isn't in our name anymore, and many New Yorkers still don't know us.
The Insight
On marathon day, all of New York shows up. Neighbors line the streets in all five boroughs to cheer on strangers. With 14 branches along the route, Citizens shows up too, on race day and long after.
The Idea
Made for NYC. Here for the long run.
First, we reworked the Citizens x TCS NYC Marathon lockup so "Official Bank" reads at a glance. Then we built a visual system of bold type and diagonal lines. The lines evoked the course's topography and rose like financial graphs. They also echoed the NYC skyline and line-work in the Lady Liberty mark of the marathon logo.
What We Did
The campaign took over the city in the month before the race. OOH spanned bus shelters, digital newsstands, urban panels, subway liveboard screens and wallscape billboards along the route in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Taxis, bus wraps, social content and an activation at the Javits Center Pre-Race Expo carried it through race weekend.
We also brought back the Citizens Miles That Matter Award, which honors five New Yorkers, one from each borough. Each honoree ran with Team Citizens and directed a $20,000 grant to a charity tied to their cause, $100,000 in total. Their stories gave the campaign its heart.
The Results
78.8MM+ OOH Impressions (+17% YoY)
Campaign assets appeared in the New York Times and New York Post.
My Role: Concept & Associate Creative Director
OOH
Placements along the marathon route and throughout the rest of the city promoted Citizens’ sponsorship of the TCS NYC Marathon in the month before the race.
Activations
For the Citizens booth at the Pre-Race Expo at Javits Center, we partnered with Miller Zell to create an immersive journey through the city’s five boroughs, and offered athletes a free ride home in Citizens-branded taxis to save their energy.
At the Citizens Cheer Zone at Mile 12, spectators were able to make their own signs and cheer on the athletes from atop a Citizens branded bus parked along the route.
Social: Pre-Race Hype
Social built excitement in the days and weeks before the race.
Skyword produced the “Marathon Guide” post using our campaign assets and diagonal-line system.
Social: Activation Footage
Activation footage from the Pre-Race Expo and the Citizens Cheer Zones on race day (via the Citizens social team & partners) featured our campaign assets.
Uber Ads
“Journey Ad” spots in the Uber app reached New Yorkers moving around the city during race week.
Transit Offer
Race weekend gave cardholders a reason to tap. Citizens Mastercard holders who paid at an MTA turnstile or bus reader got $3 back. The offer ran in-market and by email.
In The News
Campaign assets appeared in The New York Times and the New York Post.
Citizens Miles That Matter Award: Social
Five boroughs. Five New Yorkers. Five causes. Social films introduced the 2026 honorees.
Citizens Miles That Matter Award: Winner Articles
Articles (on Citizens’ website) told each honoree's story and the cause they ran for.
Citizens Miles That Matter Award: Banner Ads
Placements included a homepage takeover of abc7ny.com (WABC-TV).
Credits
Creative Director: Zak Brazen
Concept: Andrew Ralston Smith, Val Maass
Associate Creative Director: Andrew Ralston Smith
Art Director: Jessica Boudreau
Copywriters: Val Maass, Mike Santopietro
Animators: Katie Covino, Rebecca Charlier-Matthews, Tyler Chauncey
Producer/Color: Alex Champoli
Project Manager: Christina Turano
