Grey nets £50m Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley’s UK consumer banking group has appointed Grey London to handle its &£50m through-the-line advertising business, with a brief to “reignite the Goldfish brand”.
It is the first major advertising business scooped by the agency since Tamara Ingram was appointed chief executive of Grey UK nine months ago (MW May 19, 2005).
The financial services company held discussions with several shops before making the appointment, although an official pitch was not held.
Above-the-line work was previously handled by Leo Burnett, while below-the- line business was through TequilaLondon.
The brief has now been combined as part of a decision to review creative arrangements following the Goldfish acquisition, which was cleared by the Office of Fair Trading this week.
The decision does not affect Morgan Stanley’s relationship with Ogilvy & Mather, which won a $160m (&£92m) global pitch late last year to handle the corporate branding business.
Morgan Stanley started the worldwide review in August, but Leo Burnett US chiefs decided not repitch, following the departure of Morgan Stanley chief executive Philip Purcell and chief marketing officer Phil Raskin, a former Leo Burnett employee. Media duties will continue to be through Starcom.
Morgan Stanley’s credit card business is looking to develop affinity partnerships to drive UK growth. In November, it unveiled it first ultra-premium credit card, the i24, targeting consumers earning more than &£70,000.
