Inside Citizens Bank’s ode to New Yorkers

“This is you.” A new interactive exhibit from Citizens Bank brings to life stories from New Yorkers across the five boroughs. As attendees step inside they are greeted by vivid lights and data points all about New Yorkers—-from their income rates to preferred modes of transportation. This is the first room: the data portrait, where fast-moving slides emulate the skyscrapers and city blocks that make up the city. Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens Financial Group announced its plans to enter the New York City market in 2021 through the acquisitions of some HSBC branches and Investors Bancorp. Citizens started collecting data from over 5,000 New Yorkers in preparation for its debut—and in an effort to stand out from the many banks that New Yorkers are already familiar with, such as Bank of America, Chase and Citibank. The Living Portrait of NYC, a free exhibit open through Tuesday, encompasses hundreds of hours of video, audio and photographic storytelling including information from on-the-street interviews and Census data. “We really wanted to bring something to New York City for New Yorkers, and really help them learn something maybe different about New York that they hadn't learned, which is what we're really trying to do ourselves—is learn about the city,” said Lori Dillon, head of enterprise marketing at Citizens Bank. See all of Ad Age's 2023 Agency A-List winners here Beyond the data portrait comes the audio portrait room, which is dimly lit except for 15 illuminated beams that sense when a visitor steps into them. Under each beam, snippets of New Yorkers’ stories can be heard—detailing where they grew up, work, and favorite moments in the city. “My family came to Crown Heights, Eastern Parkway in 1972, and that’s where a lot of Caribbeans came, to New York in the late '70s. And we’ve been there for 50 years or so and somehow that parkway is just home. It has been. ‘Til this day, my grandmother, she’s 80. She still lives on Eastern Parkway,” one New Yorker said. In the third room, attendees can watch a nine-minute film, a collage of stories from city dwellers projected on three screens. The final multi-sensory room is a communal portrait, where visitors can sit in a photo booth to take pictures and fill out a short questionnaire about themselves. From this, a QR code is created with their portrait and projected on the walls. “I think that one of the most amazing things about this experience, that we weren't expecting, is that it starts the conversation," said Jon Wagner, executive creative director at Ogilvy. “Where are you from? How long have you lived here? Why do you stay?” The Living Portrait of NYC was created by Ogilvy New York and produced in partnership with Radical Media, which worked on the technology in the portraits. Radical Media utilized hundreds of LED panels and 4K projectors throughout the exhibit, along with directional audio systems and light sensors used in the audio portrait. The creative took over a year to bring to fruition. “Everybody seems to like a different room,” said Dillon. “We all thought that the listening room and the live entertainment would probably be people’s favorite rooms because they were so different but every room seems to be capturing people in a different way.” Much of the exhibit’s existing advertising has been on social platforms such as Twitter and TikTok. Next month, TV and out-of-home advertising about Citizens will roll out, according to Cheney. More than 20,000 people had registered to visit the exhibit as of Friday. As visitors exit, they can scan a QR code that leads to a page outlining Citizens Bank's commitments and collaborations, such as its partnership with Food Bank for NYC’s mobile food pantry.

Inside Citizens Bank’s ode to New Yorkers

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