Citigroup marketing mix

Citigroup is among the leading global financial institutions with its headquarters located in New York, United States.

The history of Citigroup dates back to 1812 to the foundation of the Citibank of New York.

Citigroup is a global diversified financial services holding company.

Its businesses provide consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a broad, yet focused, range of financial products and services.

The products and services Citigroup offers include consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, trade and securities services, and wealth management. 

It operates its business across more than 160 countries. 

The company has divided its business operations into two main segments that include Global Consumer Banking and Institutional Clients Group. The Institutional Clients Group is the larger of the two based on revenue.

The rest of the company’s business operations are classified into corporate/others.

Based on geographic regions, the company has divided its business operations into four main segments – North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), Latin America, and Asia. 

Citigroup Mission statement:

We responsibly provide financial services that enable growth and economic progress.

Citigroup Marketing Mix

In this marketing mix of Citigroup, we will discuss the products and services mix of the company highlighting the seven P’s and their impact on the company’s business and growth.

With the evolution of digital technology, financial services companies have experienced sharp growth in the array of services customers purchase and utilize online.

In this marketing mix, we will especially focus on the role of digital technology in terms of marketing, promotions, and growth for Citigroup. 

Product Mix

Citigroup is among the leading financial services providers globally and offers a diversified array of products and services for consumers.

The company’s business is divided into two main segments that include consumer businesses and institutional businesses.

Consumer businesses of Citigroup:

Citigroup’s Global Consumer Bank serves more than 110 million clients in the US, Mexico, and Asia spanning 19 markets. It is also a global leader in credit cards.

It has 132 million accounts and $505 Billion in annual purchase sales.

The company has partnered with several premier brands across Citi Branded Cards and Citi Retail Services.

Citi has 54 million accounts globally related to branded cards.

Its branded cards provide payment, credit, and lending solutions to small businesses and consumers globally. 

Here is a brief list of credit cards offered by Citi:

• Citi Rewards + Card
• Citi Double Cash Card
• Citi Diamond Preferred Card
• Citi Premier Card
• Citi Prestige Card
• Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi
• AT&T Access Card from Citi
• Citi Simplicity Card
• Citi Aadvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard
• American Airlines Aadvantage Mileup Mastercard
• Citi Aadvantage executive World Elite Mastercard
• Expedia Rewards Card from Citi
• Expedia rewards Voyager Card from Citi
• CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard
• Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi
• Citi Secured Mastercard 

Citi retail services are among North America’s largest credit solution providers of private label and co-branded credit cards for retailers. Citi serves 78 million customer accounts for iconic brands, including Best Buy, Exxon, Mobil, L.L.Bean, Macy’s, Sears, Shell, The Home Depot, and Tractor Supply Company.

Citi has also continued to digitize retail banking in the US to drive national scale.

The company offers a large array of products and services through Citi’s Access Account, Basic Banking, Citi Priority, Citigold and Citigold Private Client, to clients globally to serve their consumer banking needs.

Institutional banking:

The Institutional business of Citigroup (Institutional Clients Group) includes the following:

1. Banking capital markets and advisory: This segment caters to the complex needs of Citi’s corporate, financial institution, public sector and sponsor clients. 
2. Commercial Banking: Citi commercial bank works for midsized, globally oriented companies by delivering actionable insights and ideas, comprehensive banking solutions and also offers high quality financial advice.
3. Markets and securities services: This section provides  customized solutions that support the diverse investment and transaction strategies of investors.
4. Private Bank: Citi’s private bank section is dedicated to helping the world’s wealthiest individuals, families and law firms protect and responsibly grow their wealth.
5. Treasury and trade solutions: This section provides integrated cash management, working capital and trade finance solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations globally.

Place:

Citigroup is a global banking and financial services company with its headquarters in New York, United States.

The company has divided its geographical operations into the following categories: North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

North America is the largest geographic market for Citigroup accounting for around 50% of the company’s net revenues in 2020, followed by Asia, EMEA, and Latin America.

While the Asian region accounted for 21% of the company’s net revenue in 2020, EMEA accounted for around 17%, and Latin America around 12%.

The global nature of Citi’s business also exposes it to several risks. Citibank Europe Plc has its headquarters in Ireland. 

Price :

Citibank is well known globally for its financial products and services.

The company offers a large array of services for clients of all sizes including individuals, mid sized businesses, large corporations and government sector clients.

The company has mainly followed a premium pricing strategy for its products and services and focuses on quality of service for clients globally.

However, in several areas it has also priced its services competitively to achieve higher market penetration and faster growth.

Promotion :

Citigroup is one of the most recognized brands in the global financial services sector.

Financial and insurance service providers are increasingly relying upon digital technology for advertising and promotions.

Citigroup has also grown its focus on digital technology for rendering its services and for marketing and promotions.

Apart from its website, the company also uses other digital channels for marketing and promotions including social media and paid advertising.

Its Facebook page has more than 1.2 million followers.

Citigroup also runs a YouTube channel and posts educational videos for customers and clients.

It uses digital technology mainly to drive brand awareness and find faster growth worldwide.

The company spent around $1.2 billion on marketing and promotions in 2020 compared to $1.5 billion in 2019 (Citigroup Annual Report, 2020). 

Citigroup has a simple mission statement: We responsibly provide financial services that enable growth and economic progress.

“Citi’s mission is to serve as a trusted partner to our clients by responsibly providing financial services that enable growth and economic progress. Our core activities are safeguarding assets, lending money, making payments, and accessing the capital markets on behalf of our clients. We have 200 years of experience helping our clients meet the world’s toughest challenges and embrace its greatest opportunities. We are Citi, the global bank – an institution connecting millions of people across hundreds of countries and cities.”

Citi Mission Statement

People:

At the end of 2020, Citigroup had approximately 210,000 employees compared to 200,000 during the same period in the previous year. Citi is a leader in terms of HR management also.

The company has achieved an excellent balance in terms of the gender ratio of its human capital.

The company had around 99000 employees working in its global consumer banking segment in 2020 and around 58% of them were female employees.

In the ICG segment also, the company had around 44% female employees and 42% female employees in the corporate segment.

Overall, the company had 51% female employees in its workforce in 2020.

Citi’s leading priority in terms of HR management is attracting and retaining highly qualified and motivated employees.

The company strives to continuously improve its hiring, training, compensation, retention, promotion, and engagement programs for achieving higher employee satisfaction.

The company is also focusing on bringing more diversity to its workforce and promoting transparency and accountability organization-wide.

Processes:

A large number of processes in the banking and financial services sector are carried out digitally and all the leading banks including Citigroup have focused on digitizing their work processes to serve their customers in various segments better.

While digitalization has led to higher customer and employee satisfaction, on the one hand, it has also helped the organization achieve higher efficiency in its work processes and grow its penetration of various markets.

Apart from credit cards and a large array of banking services, the company also offers its clients customer service through digital channels.

Globally, customers and clients of all sizes can avail of Citigroup’s products and services using digital channels.

Citi combines its digital and physical infrastructure globally to provide its customers and clients best in class service.

Citibank has more than 2300 ATMs in 600 Citibank branches in the United States and more across 20 other countries.

Digital banking has become the preferred banking channel for consumers across the world.

Citibank offers digital banking, mobile banking, phone banking, a large network of ATMs as well as in-person banking.

Customers can avail of its services using their preferred channels.

Physical Evidence:

Since most banks now deliver a large array of their services through digital channels, the need for physical evidence has diminished in recent years.

The pandemic has also accelerated the digital shift which has remarkably changed how consumers availed themselves of banking services.

However, banking is also a high-risk sector, and therefore in personal contact still matters at various points.

Citi has established a global network of offices and ATM locations which act as its physical evidence.

Apart from that Citi credit and debit cards and marketing material also provides the physical evidence of its products and services.

Other Sources: Citigroup Annual report 2020.