Dive Brief:
- U.S. Bank has partnered with T Brand Studio, the content studio of New York Times Advertising, for “The Legacy Fulfilled: The Modern Renaissance,” a campaign that commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance, per details shared exclusively with Marketing Dive.
- The first-of-its-kind partnership includes two, 12-page zines, the first of which will debut in the Sunday edition of The New York Times on Aug. 18. The campaign also includes a paid post and FlexXL ad units across the Times’ homepage.
- The project is part of U.S. Bank's commitment to supporting underserved communities as they look to build generational wealth, and demonstrates how brands can use content marketing to meet different marketing imperatives.
Dive Insight:
U.S. Bank's partnership with T Brand Studio on a pair of zines looks to celebrate Black excellence and achievement as part of its efforts to connect with diverse communities around redefining and accumulating generational wealth.
The zines pay homage to the underground press that delivered poetry, prose, news, essays and experiential writing during the Harlem Renaissance, the intellectual and cultural movement that rose during the 1920s and 1930s. The campaign is roughly timed to the 100-year anniversary of a historic dinner that helped bolster the movement.
“The goal of this work is to introduce New York Times readers to a first-of-its-kind publication, encapsulating the role wealth and inheritance play in the cultural zeitgeist of American communities,” said T Brand editorial director Tanisha Sykes in a statement. “This work not only pays homage to the forefathers of the Harlem Renaissance, it brings those stories forward through Americans who are continuing the work that their ancestors began.”
“The Legacy Fulfilled” is part of U.S. Bank's commitment to supporting underserved communities. The Minneapolis-based bank created the U.S. Bank Access Commitment in 2021 to help close the wealth gap in the U.S. — the type of purpose-driven work around diversity, equity and inclusion that proliferated after 2020 protests against racist violence that has become the target of right-wing activists.
“We believe the definition of diversity is innovation and to grow your business inclusively, you must consider culture. Culture shapes our beliefs and introduces the notion of identify and influence,” said U.S. Bank's Chief Diversity Officer Greg Cunningham in a statement. “We believe culture is commerce and are proud to sponsor this work showcasing cultural brilliance and the enduring impact of the Harlem Renaissance.”
The twelve-page zines include commissioned work from a team of Black writers, artists and creatives and focus on stories of how Black communities are creating intergenerational wealth. The first zine includes a letter by Scott Ford, president of wealth management at U.S. Bank, about what the financial services industry can do to connect with consumers, while the second focuses on the contributions by Black creatives in arts, music, dance, literature and beyond.
The zines in the partnership nod not only to the thought-provoking creativity of the Harlem Renaissance but also the look-and-feel of publications from the time, and favor a "handmade approach to texture, color and layer compositions." The project uses custom typography called “VTC Sarah" that was created by Tré Seals, the founder, designer and typographer at Vocal Type who has served as a leading voice for more diversity in the design industry.
In the first campaign under new CMO Michael Lacorazza, U.S. Bank in June launched a national campaign that leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) to create audience models to test its creative against. In contrast, the new campaign in partnership with T Brand Studio demonstrates how brands can use content marketing to engage with consumers on a cultural level without having to worry about the safety and suitability concerns that come with digital media.
