Citi wanted to create a holiday takeover of New York City during the hectic holiday season, with pop-up moments could leverage Citi’s social power to surprise and delight thousands of people. As part of its “Sweet Offers” partnership with the New York Food Truck Association, Citi booked Andra Day for a pop-up performance.

Day, who released her debut album in August 2015, was chosen for the campaign thanks to her rising profile as the year’s breakout soul talent. She also received an endorsement from Stevie Wonder, with whom she appeared in a holiday commercial for Apple Music around the same time period.

To promote her Citi performance, Day shared “teaser” posts on her social accounts. In true guerilla fashion, once Day was spotted walking down the streets of New York toward the performances, she became a Pied Piper, drawing fans and passersby to the area near Citi’s Meatpacking District location.

To capitalize on Saturday foot traffic, food trucks visited the Citi branch near the Highline District, one of New York’s most iconic modern neighborhoods. As she brought throngs of fans and passersby with her, cardholders and New Yorkers alike were surprised with a performance from GRAMMY nominated artist Andra Day, who performed and took photos with fans and cardholders while they enjoyed complimentary hot beverages. In true guerrilla style, the performance drew a dense crowd and generated social media promotion and press coverage from Billboard, Swagger, and others. Social media coverage from talent, fans and Citi drove additional awareness for the event.

Footage from Andra Day's surprise performance was used to create a Citi branded video that was pushed out via social media on both Citi and Andra's social channels. This custom, branded content was viewed thousands of times.

The Citi Sweet Offers takeover of New York City yielded millions of impressions, and the Citi branded MetroCards reached commuters in a unique and unexpected way. Over 15,000 complimentary hot beverages were served to cardholders in three weeks.

Total social impressions: 7.6 million plus

Social Program Highlights:

- Outperformed monthly benchmark on both Facebook and Twitter with real time and promotional content targeted to New York City users

- Capitalized on relevant social chatter surrounding #GivingTuesday (a day dedicated to making philanthropic donations), and accounted for 33% of Citi’s month’s Favorability score (positive social interactions)

- Contributed to #3 competitive ranking measured through Market Bridge (allowing Citi to surpass both Capital One and Wells Fargo, two core competitors)

Press coverage included Billboard and Swagger NY. And as a testament to its relationship with Andra Day, Citi extended its relationship by sponsoring her spring 2016 club tour.