Publicis' Richard Pinder in conversation with Citi's Bob O'Leary

The discussion explored Citi’s status as one of the world's leading financial institutions, and the importance of finding a contagious idea to change the conversation for Citi and restore the brand to iconic status.

O'Leary said: "2008 and 2009 were challenging years for us. The company was called into question concerning some of the assets we had. Last year was very important for us as to how to position ourselves, what our offering was. We rolled up our sleeves and got back to basics. We are a much leaner organisation coming out of all of this. In the last two years we sold of more than 30 businesses and now focus on providing the best services we can."

Pinder pointed to O'Leary's point of getting back to basics and asked in terms of communicating with customers around the world, whether they are understanding again what the original reason for a bank was. "It's about removing the fine print, helping them get to the right product without searching through lots of paper work. It's about being a banking partner. We're doing our part to remove the mystery and focus on financial education."

Asked about the right way to deal with a public crisis O'Leary replied: "Not speaking up to a crisis is not the right way. Whether it's Citi or Toyota or Tiger Woods, you really need to address it as quickly as you can. The organisation or person needs to voice the fact that they've heard and will get back to the public with more information. That's what people want to hear."

O’Leary was also asked what he has learned from a week judging at the AMEs and how he believes other brands are facing the post-crisis world. "Chairing the judges at the AMEs gave me the chance to meet many people across the region. They all take marketing and advertising very seriously. I was very impressed with the work I saw. The work in the interactive and branded content areas was very strong. The work was very strategic and entries were very well done," said O'Leary. "There was good work from almost every country. It was great to see some work from the smaller less established markets."