ASB's general manager of marketing Deborah Simpson, who launched 'Creating Futures campaign', leaves to set up own business

By Gareth Vaughan

Deborah Simpson, ASB's general manager of marketing, has quit the bank to start up her own business.

In a brief statement attributed to Catherine McGrath, its chief executive for customers, markets and products, ASB said Simpson's resignation had been accepted 'with regret."

"She leaves us to start her own business," McGrath said. "Deborah has made an important contribution during her time at ASB, and she leaves with our very best wishes as she embarks on this next exciting phase of her career."

Her role will be covered internally until a process to recruit her successor is completed, ASB added.

A predecessor of Simpson's as ASB marketing head, Barbara Chapman, returned from parent Commonwealth Bank of Australia in late April as CEO and managing director. In her time as ASB's marketing boss Chapman oversaw the introduction of the highly successful Ira Goldstein advertising campaign which ran for 11 years. It was dumped by Simpson late last year and replaced with the bank's "Creating Futures" marketing campaign.

Chapman told interest.co.nz in June that some areas of  the new campaign were good but other things in it she wouldn't have personally done, including the controversial In-Vitro Fertilisation ( IVF) advertisement.

 "For example, I personally wouldn't have done that IVF ad. I think that's a territory that it's difficult for a bank to move into. It's obviously a very personal area for people. So that's just something I wouldn't have done," Chapman said.

Offering loans for fertility treatment, the advert came under fire from people who had used IVF treatment to help them conceive babies and led to 39 complaints to the Advertising standards Authority, which ultimately weren't upheld.