Half of the American population today is not part of our banking system. What are you going to do about this?

“The new corporate platform brings to life our central and long-standing belief that a bank should contribute to the growth and vibrancy of its communities, as well as the success and prosperity of its neighbors,” Citizens said in a statement.

“We believe that banks have obligations and responsibilities to the communities they serve,” the bank says on its website. “Banks allow citizens to invest in other citizens, and in the businesses those citizens create.”

If this is true why is Citizens Bank outsourcing a lot of jobs to India… doesn’t sound like they have the “success and prosperity of its neighbors” in mind!

This campaign builds a mighty fragile glass house for Citizens to inhabit. If they get caught not adhering to principles touted in ads, do they not do more damage to brand than if they had remained silent? Call me crazy, but it sure feels like they’re painting a big target on their backs. There will be no shortage of people, especially current customers (as pointed out by Ron Shevlin in an exchange he and I had about this campaign), that will call them out on any failures to live up to the claims.

Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps this campaign is straight from the heart and truly reflects the culture of the company. But my gut tells me that living up to the message is going to be a challenge. After all, my neighbors treat me pretty well (fresh baked pies, help with landscaping projects, BBQ invitations, homemade maple syrup every spring), so my expectations would be quite high if I actually believed that statement about treating customer like neighbors.

As Ron stated, the value will be in putting the philosophy into practice rather than in print.

Jason