• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer, December 29, 2005

When describing an enjoyable holiday activity, rarely are the words "free" and "New York City" used in the same sentence. Then Citi laced up its skates and came up with a nontraditional, holiday-themed component to its "Live Richly" campaign.

The financial services provider created and sponsored "The Pond at Bryant Park," a 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink on the Bryant Park lawn, as part of Fêtes de Noël, an outdoor holiday market. Visitors were treated to free ice skating from October 28 through January 16.

To promote the rink and give the National Hockey League a much-needed boost, the New York Rangers practiced on the pond each Thursday afternoon. Fallon created the logo (a skater balancing on one leg), and campaign creative that appears throughout the park, which included branded napkins, cups, street banners, lampposts, locker room signage, and rink board ads. The "Live Richly" logo was incorporated into all Fêtes de Noël advertising, including online ads that ran on nyTimes.com and Timeoutny.com.