Context

Citi Bike is a familiar part of New York’s infrastructure — practical, visible, and widely used. At the same time, its presence risks blending into the background, perceived as a utility rather than a meaningful part of city life and culture.

Client

Citi Bike

Research, strategic framing, concept development, and copywriting.

Role

See Full Project

Task

Reframe Citi Bike from functional transit into a culturally relevant experience — something that reflects how New Yorkers move through, notice, and relate to the city every day.

Nobody knows New York like the people who ride it: they find the side-street diners, the tourist-free views, the way around the brunch crowd, and enjoy the wrong turns. So instead of a new identity, the platform reveals the city through someone who gets it. "Built for NYC" runs as a flexible copy system across OOH, social, and motion, and extends into product: a spin-to-discover route generator, on station terminals and in-app, that curates rides by vibe, not destination.

Approach

Outcome

One flexible idea, "Built for NYC," that scales from a single OOH line to an in-app feature, so the brand shows up through how New Yorkers already move, not through new messaging, and earns a place in the culture, not just the commute.