Citizens | Citizens Queens 10K Campaign

Citizens

CITIZENS QUEENS 10K CAMPAIGN

strategy & concept  |  art direction, design, and production  |  digital & social  |  vendor management

 

My Roles: Lead Art Director, Concept, Design, Social Design & Animation, Production, and Vendor Management
In Collaboration with Lead Copywriter: Val Maass.

Photoshoot, Video Footage, and Editing:
Greenhouse Video team: MC, Alex Champoli, and Katie Covino

 

Project Overview

Integrated 360° Creative Campaign (OOH, In-Branch Digital, On-Site/Festival Activations, Email Marketing, Social & Content Strategy)

The Challenge

As the title sponsor of the 2026 Citizens Queens 10K, Citizens continues to establish brand distinctiveness and deep borough-level affinity in the competitive New York Metro market. The challenge was to transform a single 10K event into a broader narrative: proving Citizens isn’t just a bank operating in NYC, but an active champion and trusted partner for every journey.

The Creative Strategy 

Val and I designed the visual and experiential strategy around the premise that Queens is NYC’s engine of potential: diverse, dynamic, and forward-moving. The art direction bridged the runner’s personal journey with the borough’s cultural identity, using high-energy visual touchpoints to make the race feel less like a standalone 10K and more like a landmark celebration of local community and opportunity.

Campaign Execution & Touchpoints

Out-of-Home (OOH) & Urban Takeover: Vibrant, locality-focused visuals across transit hubs and street-level placements throughout Queens and the broader NY Metro area, capturing runner momentum paired with iconic Queens motifs.

In-Branch Digital & Retail Experience: Immersive in-branch activations and digital display suites across Queens branches, inviting locals to engage with race content and event info ahead of race day.

On-Site Race Day & Festival Activation: End-to-end environmental design for the race finish line and post-race festival—featuring interactive installation spaces, community cheer zones, and branded photo moments celebrating borough pride. Most of these assets were created by a third party but approved by myself and Sponsorship.

Digital, Social & Direct Engagement: Integrated email and dynamic social campaign highlighting our support for Queens residents, runners, and supporters.

Business & Brand Impact

Market Distinction: Established Citizens as a distinct, community-firsbank in the NYC Metro area by anchoring sponsorship in local culture rather than generic logo placement.

Borough-Level Affinity: Deepened relationships with Queens residents and the NYRR endurance running community through authentic, localized storytelling.

Strategic Brand Runway: Successfully built momentum and established the design framework for Citizens’ upcoming TCS NYC Marathon campaign.

LIRR/Mets-Willets Point Station Domination
Signage spoke to both our support for the Citizens Queens 10K and Queens Night Market. Both are located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

Static Digital Urban Panels
Appeared above subway entrances from Manhattan to Queens

Subway Station Animated Live Boards
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Note for these two triptych boards: I arranged a photoshoot with Greenhouse photo team and Colleague talent to deliver on concept. 

Flushing Queens OOH Boards: I animated in both English and Chinese
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Static OOH Billboard

In-Branch Digital Signage
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Email, Landing Page, and Social Media Campaign

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Citizens | Cybersecurity and Fraud Hub Campaign

Citizens

FRAUD HUB DEVELOPMENT AND CYBERSECURITY CAMPAIGN

concept & strategy  |  design and social animation  |  digital & social

 

My Roles: Lead Art Director, Concept & Strategy, Social Design & Animation, and Production
In Collaboration with Lead Copywriter: Jodi Tormey. Web team and Marketing Partners

 

Project Overview

Developed net-new Fraud & Security Hub on the Citizens website which included the main landing page and dedicated sub-pillar pages: Identity Theft and Student Fraud. Then, created a social media campaign in tandem with Cybersecurity Month to drive awareness to the new Hub.

Challenge & Strategic Opportunity

The challenge was building focused, audience-specific hubs — one handling high-anxiety crisis recovery for identity theft, and the other demystifying emerging scams targeting students and their parents.
Both pages required a balance between immediate crisis management (what to do if impacted) and proactive financial education (how to spot evolving threats).

Creative Strategy & Design Execution

Fraud & Security Hub Page:
Created visual icons and treatments to create a sense of urgency and set it apart from the environmentally “softer” lifestyle photography.

Identity Theft Sub-Pillar:
Designed an action-oriented crisis navigation layout, visually prioritizing immediate remediation steps, credit locking guidance, and direct contact channels. Formatted proactive prevention tips into scannable visual modules to help customers safeguard personal data long-term.

Student Fraud Sub-Pillar:
Developed an approachable, modern visual identity tailored for young consumers and their parents, framing security as an empowering element of financial independence. Built dedicated sections highlighting student-specific vectors (e.g., tuition scams, fake job offers, peer-to-peer payment fraud) paired with practical, real-world defense tactics.

Cybersecurity Social Campaign:
Develop a multi-channel campaign that positioned Citizens as a trusted advisor in fraud prevention and cybersecurity. The campaign spotlights the newly launched Fraud and Cybersecurity Hub, emphasizing the depth and accessibility of resources.

Business Impact

Provided clear, self-service remediation paths for identity theft victims, helping streamline customer support workflows during high-stress moments.

Social campaign results

Lifestyle imagery delivered 25.6% more efficient CPC than all-type creative with similar cost per visit.
First-time placement of Convenience content on Reddit, achieving strong average time on site, signaling high-quality engagement.

Fraud & Security Hub landing pages

Click on image landing page to take you to full page.

Main Fraud & Security Hub landing page

 Student Identity Theft landing page

Identity Theft landing page

 

Phase 1: Fraud Hub Focus Social Campaign

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Phase 1: Identity Theft Social Campaign
(The all-type animation was tested against the lifestyle imagery. The lifestyle imagery performed better.)

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Phase 1: Student Theft Social Campaign
(The all-type animation was tested against the lifestyle imagery. The lifestyle imagery performed better.)

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Phase 2: Fraud Hub Focus Social Campaign

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Phase 2: Identity Theft Social Campaign

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Phase 2: Student Theft Social Campaign

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Citizens | Debit Card Fraud Campaign

Citizens

DEBIT CARD FRAUD CAMPAIGN

strategy & concept  |  video art direction, design, and social animation  |  digital & social

 

My Roles: Concept, Video/YouTube Art Direction & Design, Social Design & Animation, and Production
In Collaboration with Lead Copywriter: Jodi Tormey

Video Shoot and Editing:
Video Script, Jodi Tormey. Greenhouse Video Team: Ion Sokhos, MC, Alex Champoli, and Colleague talent

 

Project Overview

Aligned with Cybersecurity Month, I concepted, art-directed, designed, animated, and produced an omnichannel creative campaign. The campaign drove debit card security awareness to a (new) digital learning page on dotcom. This included the customer journey from discovery on social media, to learning more on dotcom, to applying for a debit card.

Challenge & Strategic Opportunity

Shift the narrative: The challenge was to pivot from fear cues toward an empowering, confident tone that appealed to mass-affluent and prospective retail customers.
Elevate existing high-value assets: While the core Debit Card Fraud and Safety Tips article already performed well organically, it required a visual overhaul to increase engagement, dwell time, and conversion.

Creative Strategy & Execution

Modernized content design: Redesigned the main dotcom article with a high-impact hero image, scannable infographic, and prominent visual CTA designed to lift user engagement.
Empowering visual language: Developed visual assets that reinforced safety, confidence, and the seamless everyday usability of the (Citizens) debit card.

Business Impact & Strategic Value

Modernized top-of-funnel educational touchpoints to reflect a confident, modern brand voice.
Transformed static text-based guidance into a visual learning hub, increasing content consumption and driving organic search authority.

Click image to dotcom landing page. 

YouTube Long Form Video and Short

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Social Media Posts

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Citizens | Financial Literacy Month Campaign

Citizens

FINANCIAL LITERACY MONTH CAMPAIGN

concept  |  branding  |  digital + social media

 

My Roles: Concept, Video Art Direction, Design, Social Animation, and Production
In Collaboration with Lead Copywriter: Brian Fudge.

YouTube Video Shoot and Editing:
Video Script, Brian Fudge. Greenhouse Video team: Ion Sokhos, MC, Alex Champoli, and Katie Covino (Video Editor and Animation), and Colleague talent

Challenge & Opportunity

Citizens launched a multi-channel campaign for Financial Literacy Month to position the bank as a trusted advisor. By pairing high-value educational content with an expansive digital strategy. The campaign addressed consumer financial anxiety while driving awareness and organic visibility to Citizens dotcom learning article

Strategy & Leadership

In a digital environment, we created long-form videos demystifying complex money management, supported by short-form YouTube Shorts and IG Reels to capture high-intent organic search and social traffic. Customized paid amplification (Reddit) focused on that audience, as well as other targeted social placements to drive traffic to dotcom learning hubs.

Business Results

Reddit outperformed 12-month LOB baselines across CPM, CPC, and CTR. Carousel creative proved most effective, driving a $1.08 CPC (vs. $1.59 baseline) and 0.48% CTR (vs. 0.42% baseline). Visitors averaged 03:56 on-site, with Reddit traffic spending 04:39 on page—outperforming both mobile app placements (03:31) and overall deposit baselines (03:03).

Validated a high-performing video and distribution model that expanded Citizens’ digital footprint across emerging channels (YouTube Shorts/Reels) while strengthening customer acquisition and brand trust. The YT Shorts each have 200K+ views.

 

Reddit: Carousel

YouTube: Intro to Financial Literacy Month
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YouTube Long-form

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YouTube Shorts

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Citizens | Annual Review

Citizens

ANNUAL REVIEW

concept  |  branding  |  digital   |  print

 

My Roles: Lead Art Director, Concept & Strategy, Design, Production, Vendor Management

Also in Collaboration with Greenhouse Copywriter: Mike Santopietro and Editor/Proofreader Lisa Rinkus
Greenhouse Photo & Video Team: MC and Alex Champoli
Partner directly with Investor Relations (and CEO), Shareholder Services, and Corporate Affairs

Challenge & Creative Opportunity

Concepted, designed, and produced the 24-page Citizens Annual Review and Proxy Cover. Then with the vendor, collaborated to ensure all schedule benchmarks were met and digital proofs approved by our team. Partnering directly with Investor Relations, translated the executive vision into a high-impact narrative.
Created specifically for shareholders, the book balances a retrospective of past achievements with a forward-looking view of the bank’s ongoing transformation. Challenged to modernize the traditional layouts, transforming them into a modern, engaging story that reflects the bank’s current evolution.

Strategy & Design Leadership

In-house imagery:
Updated standard stock photography with authentic, in-house imagery, reinforcing true ownership of the brand identity and creating a distinct corporate presence.

Modern visual direction:
Reimagined complex financial data, transformation charts and graphs, and executive messaging using bold typography, pops of color, dynamic grid systems, and intentional visual hierarchy.

Direct stakeholder leadership:
Managed direct design-to-Investor Relations/CEO collaboration, efficiently navigating executive feedback while protecting the creative integrity and modern feel of the book.

Business Impact & Strategic Value

Modernized shareholder experience:
Focused the annual review as a bold visual narrative to build strong investor confidence in the bank’s trajectory.

Elevated brand authenticity:
Championed creative execution through branded imagery and design, setting a higher design standard for executive-level communication. Note this is the first time all imagery, including the cover has been shot by Greenhouse Photo Team.

Select spreads from the final book.
A digital pdf is also available for download via Citizens website.

 

 

 

Citizens | Digital HELOC Campaign

Citizens

DIGITAL HELOC CAMPAIGN

concept  |  branding  |  social + digital media

 

My Roles: Concept, Design, Social Animation, and Production
Collaboration with Lead Copywriter: Mike Santopietro

Challenge & Opportunity

Citizens launched a digital acquisition campaign targeting homeowners (ages 35+) with strong credit and borrowable equity to drive Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) originations. The primary obstacle was consumer friction around interest rate volatility, closing fees, and information overload. A creative challenge given was to develop attention-grabbing visuals, through eye-catching imagery, design, or copy that’s fun, interesting, or unexpected.

Partnering with a lead Copywriter, we developed a performance-driven paid media campaign that positioned Citizens HELOC (and its Citizens FastLine) as the smartest, fastest, and most cost-effective way to fund major life goals.

Strategy & Leadership

With a Copywriter, simplified complex financial concept such as rate drops, lowered promotional interest rates, and zero closing costs into bite-sized, high-converting creative concepts. Designed, animated, and produced a campaign of paid digital assets, including animated Meta/Instagram Stories, Reddit, Meta static and animated posts, and multi-size display banners.

Pushed visual and conceptual boundaries utilizing eye-catching motion design, dynamic typography, and a bold layouts to break through social media feed clutter while maintaining financial compliance and brand integrity.

Business Impact & Strategic Value

Targeted high-intent borrowers likely to draw balances within 90 days, fueling long-term customer lifetime value and cross-sell potential across Citizens’ portfolio. The journey from digital media takes the viewer to learn more and apply for a HELOC using Citizens Fastline.

 

 

Animated Social Post
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Animated Social Post
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Static Social Posts

 

Marshalls | Art Direction

To support Marshalls’ nationwide seasonal marketing campaigns, high-volume visual assets were required for in-store signage and regional advertising. The core objective was to direct large-scale, multi-day location photoshoots that captured authentic, high-energy lifestyle imagery across diverse visual touchpoints.

Strategic & Creative Leadership

Led pre-production planning and on-location as well as studion execution, overseeing full creative and technical crews to align multi-day shoots with campaign goals.
Managed the budget, casting and crew assembly, recruiting photographers, stylists, models, and location scouts to build a cohesive visual narrative. Executed real-time creative decision-making on location, guiding lighting, composition, wardrobe styling. Delivered a visual library prepped for large-format in-store signage and multi-channel advertising campaigns nationwide. Elevated the customer shopping experience through high-impact, aspirational visual storytelling that reinforced Marshalls’ value proposition at the point of purchase.

Marshalls | art direction – accessories

Art Direction from studio and location family footwear photoshoot. Managed pre-production strategy and on-set creative direction for studio and location shoots. Imagery was used for in-store signage as well as advertising initiatives.

Marshalls | Art Direction – youth

Conceptualized and art directed high-impact seasonal campaign assets for Marshalls, leading multi-day location photoshoots featuring youth talent. Led end-to-end creative operations, including talent and crew casting, and location scouting to deliver energetic story that seamlessly integrated across nationwide in-store signage and regional advertising channels.

Marshalls | Art Direction – home goods

Executed the visual strategy by art directing a location photoshoot for a Marshalls home goods promotional event. Concepted and executed a cross-channel campaign encompassing large-format in-store signage and a direct mail initiative.

Following exceptional performance and consumer engagement, the direct mail piece was adapted into a bilingual (English and Spanish) press kit for national editorial outreach.