UOB pitches creative in Singapore
United Overseas Bank, one of the largest financial services groups in Southeast Asia, is pitching its advertising business in Singapore, Mumbrella can reveal.
The incumbent agency is Leo Burnett, which won the business in 2010.
The news ends months of speculation that UOB has been looking for a new agency.
The agencies in contention are unconfirmed, and those rumoured to be on the list have either denied involvement or have not responded to Mumbrella’s questions about the review.
Among those names rumoured to be on the list include Saatchi & Saatchi – which handled the account before Leo Burnett – DDB, Publicis and BBH, as well as the incumbent.
UOB’s executive director, head of group retail marketing is Wendy Ong, who spent 13 years at DDB as chief strategy officer until a year ago when she joined the bank, is understood to be running the pitch.
DDB, which handles the ad account of UOB competitor DBS, has stated that it is not involved in the pitch. So too has Publicis, which Mumbrella has been informed is teaming up with sibling agency BBH in a group effort to win the business.
Leo Burnett has denied knowledge of the review.
The client declined to comment.
The news emerges on the same day that UOB has reported strong numbers for the first half of the year. Net earnings were by up by 6.1 per cent, to S$1.60 billion.
Wee Ee Cheong, UOB Group’s deputy chairman and CEO, said, “We are pleased with the group’s healthy results, with our second quarter building on the strong performance achieved in the first quarter.”
The results, he said, show the company’s “continued focus on generating steady growth backed by disciplined risk management and a strong balance sheet.”
He added: “Despite the moderating growth in Asia in the near term, we believe in the region’s long-term potential. We continue to invest in our regional capabilities for our customers as they seize opportunities in the region.”
One of the earlier ads for UOB Bank created by Leo Burnett was for the Lady’s Card in 2010.
For 4 years, the incumbent’s presence and performance on this account has been close to non-existent. You’d almost think some cheap interns were doing all the work. Once they lose this account they are in some deep #4%^. Master move by the expat CCO to get himself out of the spotlight a few weeks ago and bring in an inexperienced local ECD to take the fall.
I feel sorry for the client at the lack of strong choices theyre faced with now. Saatchi already handles a big part of HSBC, BBH is a bit too expat heavy…bank accounts need the local touch, Publicis has links to citi….the only one I can see pulling this off would be ddb who would then give dbs a well deserved heave-ho….and then work would still be as bad, probably worse…..all the musical chairs for nothing.
ReplyNo mnc agency should go for a local bank account…its a waste of time….the fees are an insult….to compensate for this agencies put their junior most creatives on the job and charge seniors rates to the clients….a recipe for unhappiness all round. Plus nearly all the banks are in bed with the small crappy local shops that do exactly as theyre told at laughable prices…..ask yourself if thats what you want to be a part of.
Id give it without a pitch to Good Fellas or Arcade….but oops Arcade has the backing of Batey who, it is rumored, fired UOB because another bank coughed up a few shekels more.
ReplyAnother warning tale for agencies that love playing the (S)cannes game for short term fame…..not too long ago burnetts singapore was one of the biggest players on the Scannes circuit….the number of dodgy LB creatives who have scanned their way to top jobs in Asia and the US today would surprise any newcomer to the scene. Now every single client who they scanned their guts out for has long left the building and thats sad. This could well be the end for them but maybe they will be smarter while rebuilding.
As another agency from the same network has already discovered (after nearly disappearing off the map), this is exactly what happens when you take your eye off the real prize which is winning and retaining business in favour of doing scannes ads.
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