The ad agency that for 15 years held the Fleet Financial account and most recently was Sovereign Bank’s agency in New England, has now been awarded a Citizens Financial Group account that trade publications are speculating could be valued at more than $30 million.
Arnold Worldwide, the largest agency in New England and among the top 20 in the nation, held the Fleet account for 15 years, but lost it after the bank’s merger with BankBoston. Hill Holiday, which was BankBoston’s agency, was awarded the Fleet account.
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Francis J. Kelly III, Arnold’s president, said the firm dropped the Sovereign account when the Pennsylvania bank wanted to combine all regions for marketing. Kelly said the ad agency handles PNC Bank of Pittsburgh out of its Washington, D.C. office and thought the Sovereign expansion would create a “conflict.”
The Citizens account, Kelly said, will be among the 10 largest for Arnold, which is most noted for its work with Volkswagen (drivers wanted campaign), Monster.com, the national anti-smoking campaign, Titleist and Talbot. The agency also works with EMC, Verizon, McDonald’s and a New York based airline, Jet Blue, Kelly said.
Neither Kelly nor bank officials would disclose the value of the account, but trade publications were speculating its worth at $30 million to $40 million.
“We’re very excited to be working with Citizens,” said Kelly, noting how the bank is “growing dramatically in New England” to the second largest in the region. Its growth is not unlike that of the agency, which 11 years ago, Kelly said, had billings of $40 million and today has billings of $1.3 billion. The ad agency employs 1,000 worldwide, 700 in the Boston headquarters, Kelly said.
Both Kelly and Citizens’ Theresa McLaughlin, the bank’s marketing director, said the agency will be built upon the successful campaigns the bank has already undertaken.
“They have a lot of research that says they are heading in the right direction,” Kelly said. “They have been growing steadily in the last five years and are far and away the second largest bank in New England. There’s a lot of evidence that what they are doing is pretty good. What Larry Fish (bank’s chairman) and Mark Formica (bank’s president) want to do is be the best marketer in the region.”
To do that, McLaughlin said, the bank felt it needed to terminate its relationship of five years with Holland Mark Edmund Ingalls, an agency that won McLaughlin’s praise but one that she indicated didn’t have the resources that an agency Arnold’s size has. In the five-year period, McLaughlin said the bank has grown from $10 billion to $30 billion in assets.
Arnold will carry on much of the work of its predecessor, rolling out a new television campaign in early spring, McLaughlin said, and bringing the bank to the next level in its marketing efforts.
“They’ll be taking the brand position to the next level,” she said. “They won’t abandon stuff. You’ll see some work that is evolutionary from where we’re at, not revolutionary.”
The Citizens green will remain, Kelly and Arnold said, and so will its theme that Citizens is “not your typical bank, a strong bank, where the person is still important.”
The ad campaign, McLaughlin said “will continue on the theme of Citizens’ exceptional and unique customer service and accessibility.”
Additionally, she said, beyond promoting the brand, the agency will likely get involved in marketing some of the bank’s specific products, such as its refinance program, money market, and other programs.
Kelly said the agency is drawn to clients that consider “marketing important for the focus of their business. Right from the top, from Larry Fish down they believe in the power of building the Citizens brand.”
