ASB is ditching Droga5, its advertising agency that oversaw the dumping of the bank's popular and long running Ira Goldstein adverts and replaced them with the Creating Futures campaign in late 2010, and replacing it with Saatchi & Saatchi from July 1.
In a statement Roger Beaumont, ASB’s executive general manager for marketing & online, said the bank had "opted for a change of direction" with a new agency after two years with Droga5.
“ASB has grown significantly in terms of market share and size and we are very excited to be entering a new direction in the evolution of our brand," Beaumont said. "We feel that Saatchi & Saatchi strongly delivers the right mix of scale, creativity, strategic insights and leadership that will help us achieve our ambitious goals.”
Beaumont, the former marketing and communications director of TV3 owner MediaWorks, started in his role at ASB last October. His appointment followed the departure of Deborah Simpson, the ASB general manager of marketing at the helm when the Creating Futures campaign was introduced and the Goldstein adverts that ran for 11 years dumped.
A predecessor of Simpson's as ASB marketing head, Barbara Chapman, returned from parent Commonwealth Bank of Australia in April last year as CEO and managing director. In her time as ASB's marketing boss Chapman oversaw the introduction of the highly successful Goldstein campaign.
CEO Barbara Chapman 'wouldn't have made the IVF ad'
Chapman told interest.co.nz in June last year that some areas of the Creating Futures 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 last year.
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.
Meanwhile, Saatchi & Saatchi's New Zealand CEO Nicky Bell said the ad agency was "naturally thrilled" to gain ASB as a client.
"ASB is an incredibly strong and innovative brand. We can’t wait to get started with their team," said Bell.
Beaumont said ASB's current "Experience ASB" campaign had been a "particular highlight of the positive relationship" between ASB and Droga5. And ASB's press release also quoted Andrew Stone, Droga5’s business director, saying: “We have loved our relationship with ASB. We’re proud of what we have done together and they’ve given us a great start in this market. We recognise the changes at ASB and wish them well.”
The ASB statement made no mention of the Creating Futures campaign.
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