Santander hands online banking ad account to Grey
Santander has awarded the £20m pan-European advertising duties for OpenBank, its unified online banking service, to Grey EMEA.
The online bank of Banco Santander, already operates in Spain, but is looking to expand into the UK, following the rebranding of Abbey and Bradford & Bingley branches earlier this year.
The agency won the business after a pitch against the Publicis network. Grey London will lead the integrated account, which includes advertising, digital and design, while G2 in Spain will manage direct marketing.
Grey says it is currently planning a launch campaign to promote the service, which is set to break in the UK later this year. It is not yet clear if Santander will wait for Alliance & Leicester to take on the Santander name, before it launches.
The pitch process was handled by Santander’s new Global Direct Banking division, which has been set up to oversee the unification of its different online banks. WCRS still handles duties for the main Santander brand, and Carat is responsible for media planning and buying.
According to Brand Finance’s Global 500 list, Santander increased its brand value by 20% to $25.5bn (£16.3bn), finishing in 12th place.
