November 06, 2008

By By Kamau High, N.Y.

Citi Cards, the credit card division of Citi, will launch an integrated advertising campaign with Mary J. Blige and Nickelback at the center of it on Sunday, the company said.

In February, Citi signed a marketing alliance with Live Nation. While the two have used artists in promotion since then this is the first time the companies have used artists in a national print, online and television campaign.

Nickelback has a 360-deal with Live Nation while Mary J. Blige has worked frequently with Live Nation, most recently on her Heart of the City tour with Jay-Z.

"We were looking for artists that gave us a wide appeal and we were able to span a large group with both of these artists," said Debra Coughlin, executive VP of Citi Cards. "We also wanted artists that are good to work with."

Starting next week visitors to stories.citicards.com will be able to play games with both artists' lyrics, hear snippets of some of their songs and watch behind the scenes interviews.

Citi's advertising agency is Publicis while digital was handled by Atmosphere BBDO. "We wanted to find new ways of bringing digital music to fans," said Andreas Combuechen, chairman, ceo, cco, Atmosphere BBDO.

Subscribe to Billboard magazine today!