Overview

Citibank’s ThankYou® Rewards program spans travel, entertainment, retail, and everyday spending. The objective of this body of work was to create a cohesive, high-impact messaging system that could educate, motivate, and convert across channels while maintaining clarity within a complex rewards ecosystem.

I worked across email, direct mail, seasonal campaigns, partner promotions, and animated formats to translate program value into emotionally resonant, action-driven storytelling. Rather than treating each execution as a standalone asset, the work functioned as a connected campaign designed to guide members from awareness to redemption.

The Problem

ThankYou® Rewards offers significant flexibility, but flexibility can create friction. Members often struggle to understand how points translate into real-world value, when to redeem, and why certain redemptions are more compelling than others.

The challenge was to:

• Simplify a multi-layered rewards system without oversimplifying its value

• Maintain consistency across partners, formats, and timelines

• Balance inspiration with instruction across both digital and physical touchpoints

Copy needed to educate and persuade simultaneously, while remaining compliant, clear, and brand-consistent.

Concept & Strategy

The guiding strategy was to anchor rewards in outcomes, not points.

Instead of leading with numbers, copy reframed rewards around experiences: travel, access, convenience, and emotional payoff. Each campaign emphasized what members could do with their points, not just how many they had.

Key strategic principles included:

• Experience-first storytelling to humanize rewards

• Modular messaging that could scale across partners and seasons

• Clear, repeatable action frameworks to reduce decision fatigue

This approach allowed Citibank to maintain a consistent narrative while flexing creatively across travel, entertainment, retail, and seasonal moments.

Execution

My role focused on shaping campaign-level messaging that translated cleanly across channels, formats, and partner ecosystems.

I wrote copy for:

• Lifecycle and promotional emails

• Seasonal and holiday campaigns

• Partner-specific activations (travel, airlines, entertainment, retail)

• Direct mail and long-form informational layouts

• Animated and dynamic formats where pacing and hierarchy were critical

Each execution followed a shared structure: establish value quickly, visualize the outcome, clarify the exchange, and guide the user toward a clear next step. Copy was intentionally concise, scannable, and structured to work in tandem with design and motion. This body of work contributed to a unified rewards narrative that supported ongoing engagement across the ThankYou® ecosystem. Campaigns successfully balanced inspiration and instruction, making complex redemption options feel accessible and desirable.