Making monthly offers harder to miss
A Q1 email campaign that made PNC Purchase Payback feel more useful, more timely, and easier to act on.
Q1 email themes
Simple steps to earn offers
Flexible template system
PNC wanted to refresh its monthly Purchase Payback emails for consumer debit, credit-card, and business-debit customers. The campaign needed to make personalized merchant offers feel more immediate while clearly showing customers how to activate offers, use their card, and discover more perks.
- 01
Built a flexible email framework around a clear rewards story and a repeatable three-step action: activate an offer, use a card, and get rewarded.
- 02
Developed distinct monthly creative themes that turn everyday moments into reasons to look for offers: broad rewards in January, dining in February, and shopping in March.
- 03
Kept the copy broad enough for consumer and business audiences while giving the changing merchant offers, use cases, and calls to action room to lead each send.
A closer look at Purchase Payback.
PNC Bank · January email
Starting the year with more ways to get rewarded.
The January execution introduces the program through a broad, benefit-led message: everyday purchases can surface offers worth activating. A friendly retail-and-routine visual system makes the experience feel useful before asking customers to act.
The email translates the program into a clear sequence: click to activate an offer, shop with a card, enjoy the purchase, and earn more along the way.
PNC Bank · February email
Using a dining moment to make rewards feel more appetizing.
The February email gives the program a seasonal use case without narrowing the audience. Food imagery turns the promise of monthly offers into a simple, memorable thought: rewards are delicious.
The execution keeps the same familiar activation path while changing the reason to care, allowing the campaign to feel fresh from month to month.
PNC Bank · March email
Giving shoppers a reason to check their offers before checkout.
The March execution moves into a shopping use case, reminding customers that their usual purchases can unlock more value when they activate the right offer first.
A direct, retail-led headline and consistent offer path connect the campaign’s changing themes to one durable behavior: check, activate, and use your card.
This case study is based on the supplied tactical brief and final deliverables. It does not claim client approval or campaign-performance results that were not provided.
A good rewards email makes the next purchase feel like an opportunity, not an afterthought.
The completed Q1 system gives PNC a repeatable email format that can spotlight changing merchant offers without making each month feel like the same message. No performance results are represented here because none were provided in the source materials.