Mobile-First Test & Learn Case Study – First Republic Bank
A research-led pilot: Designing and testing social-first content systems
How it started
First Republic Bank was producing deep, authoritative long-form insights, but traditional web publishing was struggling to engage modern, mobile-first audiences on social feeds.
As part of a broader marketing partnership, the bank needed to solve a core distribution challenge: how to translate complex wealth management expertise into agile, platform-native formats without diluting brand prestige.
Rather than committing to an unproven redesign, First Republic commissioned the Program 11 team to design and deploy a research-driven, test-and-learn pilot to rigorously evaluate how different visual formats perform across social streams.
What we did
We formulated a two-phase, hypothesis-led testing methodology to transform static editorial assets into a scalable, multi-format media system.
Strategic Audience & KPI Alignment: We collaborated with First Republic leadership to establish a comprehensive creative brief, mapping out target mindsets, channel-specific user behaviors, and core business metrics to ground every test in clear KPIs.
Hypothesis-Driven Format Testing: Using a benchmark article, we engineered three distinct creative approaches — ranging from multi-post narrative series and image galleries to data visualizations and motion graphics — to evaluate scroll-stopping power and visual retention.
Template Architecture: We codified each approach into a structured visual template featuring copy frameworks, detailed written specs, and layout samples. This gave First Republic stakeholders a clear visual reference to stress-test how content would render across feeds before entering full production.
Modular Asset Production: After testing and selecting the highest-performing concepts across three core long-form articles, we atomized the long-form insights into mobile-first content suites.
How it went
The pilot replaced creative guesswork with a validated framework for content distribution. By establishing a research-backed publishing methodology, we enabled First Republic to significantly extend the reach and lifecycle of its thought leadership:
Tested Visual Blueprint: Delivered a field-tested suite of mobile-first templates (data cards, motion graphics, and galleries) tailored specifically for high-net-worth social streams.
Systematized Content Pipeline: Built an operational workflow that turns dense financial analysis into modular, multi-channel assets quickly and efficiently.
Maximized Editorial Yield: Expanded the return on First Republic’s original content investments by turning single long-form articles into dozens of high-value touchpoints across core social platforms.
