Grey scoops 100m global Fortis account

Grey EMEA has scooped the £100m global advertising business for Fortis, marking the first time the European banking giant has consolidated its account into one global network.

The agency won the business following a final pitch against Leo Burnett and Ogilvy Advertising. The global incumbent on the account was Publicis, but in the past Fortis has worked with a roster of agencies for local markets and also for its three different businesses – retail banking, insurance, investment and private banking.

In an exclusive interview with Marketing Week, Fortis general manager of global branding and communications Adrian Martorana says the brief for Grey will be to create a communications strategy to work across all of its three businesses. He says: “Grey will help us build brand awareness across Europe to mark our significant international growth over the past two years.”

An integrated global advertising campaign is expected in January next year. The Fortis brand is concentrated chiefly in the Benelux countries, France, Germany, Poland and Turkey. It has no high street retail presence in the UK, but operates in the insurance and investment banking sector.

The financial institution teamed up with Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Banco Santander earlier this month to win control of ABN Amro after shareholders of the Dutch bank backed a £50m takeover (MW October 11).

“Given our ambition, it was essential that we consolidated our advertising support into one agency, which would allow us to improve the consistency and effectiveness of our campaigns,” adds Martorana.