Leagas in £12m Nationwide win

Nationwide Building Society has appointed Leagas Delaney to create its television advertising.

The agency beat Banks Hoggins O’Shea/FCB, Leo Burnett, and freelance creative duo Tony Riggs and Nick Welsh, who currently do the work. The AAR handled the review.

Leagas Delaney will work on a brand-building project for next spring. Nationwide has traditionally spent &£12m a year on advertising, but has not said what it will spend on television next year.

Bartle Bogle Hegarty quit the account in July last year because of creative differences. Nationwide did not replace the agency, choosing instead to do work in-house with Riggs and Welsh. Outdoor, print work and direct marketing, which is handled by WWAV Rapp Collins and Ping, is unaffected by Leagas Delaney’s appointment.

Leagas Delaney is reunited with Nationwide for the third time in ten years. The agency first won the account from D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in 1991. It lost the work to GGT in 1994, but won it back for a year in 1997.

Earlier this year, Nationwide scrapped introductory rates on its mortgages. As a result, sales of its mortgage suffered, mainly because of a decline in recommendations by independent financial advisers.

However, the building society has consistently stood by its policy, which it originally hoped other lenders would adopt.