Share Our Strength is a non-profit organization that exists to end childhood hunger in America by raising funds through No Kid Hungry dinner programs and Taste of the Nation large-scale events.
In 2015, Citi embarked on its inaugural journey as presenting sponsor of Share Our Strength dinners.The goal was to increase cardmember usage and drive brand loyalty, all the while demonstrating and rewarding Citi cardmember engagement before, during, and after events.
As presenting sponsor of No Kid Hungry dinners, our strategy was to engage and enrich Citi cardmembers experiences as they participated in events for a greater cause. Additionally, we focused on driving awareness for Citi's exclusive opportunities in the dining space through Citi Private Pass (ticket access) and Citi Table (dining platform).
The pre-event marketing centered around promoting presale and preferred tickets across all of Citi's channels, including: Private Pass emails, Private Pass website, Citi Table website, Share our Strength Emails, Citi statement inserts, Share Our Strength ticket purchase path, Citi social media & Share Our Strength social media channels. Private Pass marketing channels yielded 12MM impressions.
Expedited VIP check in was available to all Citi cardmembers in event cities including New York, D.C. , Miami, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. Upon check-in, cardmembers received branded keepsake laminates and branded food & drink trays to enhance their event experience and help create "moving brand ambassadors".
Citi branding, including the hashtag #CitiTable, was prominently featured throughout all events on gobos, screens, pull up banners, step & repeats and table toppers to encourage social engagement.
Once cardmembers entered VIP area, they were able to again use their Citi cards to gain access to the Citi Lounge, featuring a highly coveted seating area with a private mixologist, cell phone charging stations, photo booths, a step & repeat, and televisions that played a sizzle reel explaining Citi's partnership with Share Our Strength, driving back to Citi Table and Private Pass for additional dining experiences. Local, market-relevant Citi Table dining and restaurant offers, as well as other Citi dining promotions were integrated as VIP giveaways.
To further enhance organic social media efforts by Citi and Share Our Strength, a unique social media vending machine was integrated into the event, where guests could tweet or post using #CitiTable and #NoKidHungry. When those posts or tweets went live, the vending machine automatically provided Citi-branded gifts and entered guests into a sweepstakes to win 1 of 3 grand prizes, including a Vitamix, restaurant gift certificates, or a gold plated TabbedOut iPhone.
Results far exceeded estimated goals, with #CitiTable impressions across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram topping 7 Million.
CTRs were 10X the average and Splash page viewers were in the 90% percentile, equal to some of Citi's most buzz-worthy offers including Billy Joel, Imagine Dragons & Neil Diamond.
@CitiPrivatePass and @Citibank presale tweets resulted in 4X engagement compared to average tweets.
Through a post-event survey executed by Share Our Strength, 84% of guests were aware that Citi was the national sponsor and 50% felt more favourable about Citi as a result.
Citi Table page views universally spiked on the day of events and topped averages for 7 days post-event.
Most importantly, the program raised $1 Million, enough to provide 10 Million healthy meals to children in need.
