What Is the Cost of Cool?
18 November 2013
Jacob Jegher
I was watching TV the other night and was quite puzzled by the following Citi commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49u1M8lIo0k It's natural for credit card issuers to want customers to increase card spending. However, this is a a sharp contrast to the message that banks send that they want to improve their customer's financial well being! There are so many poor financial lessons in this video that I don't know where to begin. On the other hand, Citi offers financial tools to "help put you in control." They also offer a financial education site for kids and teens with lessons on money management. There's even a lesson titled, "What Is the Cost of Cool?" While Citi has different divisions/groups at work here , the customer views the bank as a single entity. There is certainly a cost to cool in Citi's commercial spot. Banks have to work on unifying their messaging and find win-win scenarios that improve the customer's financial well being.