RSA plumps for Interbrand and DDB joint bid

Royal & SunAlliance (RSA) has appointed brand consultancy Interbrand to work on the overhaul of its global brand, alongside DDB London, which will handle the global advertising business.

Royal & SunAlliance (RSA) has appointed brand consultancy Interbrand to work on the overhaul of its global brand, alongside DDB London, which will handle the global advertising business.

The Omnicom-owned agencies are understood to have pitched for the business together. The review was overseen by the AAR.

An RSA spokeswoman denies that it has appointed any agencies, but the Interbrand/DDB consortium is thought to be the only one still involved with the pitch. The other agencies involved – M&C Saatchi, Ogilvy Advertising and JWT – have been told they would not be progressing to a final meeting.

An industry insider says Interbrand’s role would be significant because the RSA project is “as much about brand identity” as it is creating a global ad strategy. Another source says the agencies will work “hand in hand” on a six-month communications brief.

The pitch was called last month as part of the insurance giant’s plans to overhaul its corporate brand and become more consumer-facing (MW July 19). Clare Salmon, who joined the company in May as group strategy, marketing and customer director, is leading the repositioning.

Previously, each RSA market and region has handled marketing locally.

It is not known how much the global account is worth, although a UK spend of £1.4m last year, according to figures released by Nielsen, is expected to rise significantly.

The insurer’s UK direct brand MoreThan spends at least £20m on advertising annually. Incumbent Fallon has not been affected by the global network review.

RSA has major operations in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Latin America.