MRM Worldwide and Campbell-Mithun have won joint agency duties for National City Bank.
The two agencies, both of which are owned by Interpublic Group of Companies, competed as a pair and were chosen from a field of five finalists. They will create integrated campaigns for National City, with Campbell-Mithun focusing on branding, TV, print, radio and outdoor messaging. MRM’s work will center on e-mail programs, online advertising and other digital pursuits.
“One of the things to note about National City and this particular win is that, traditionally, they spent a significant amount of their media dollars in newspaper,” Rachael Marret, EVP and managing director of MRM Worldwide, pointed out. “In fact, it’s been almost half of their spending historically, and what they’ve decided to do now is make a significant shift and increase their online media spending by up to 10 times.”
Digital marketing capabilities were a main selling point to National City Bank for two reasons. The first is that MRM is able to target messaging and online ad delivery to specific ZIP codes — an important detail because National operates only in certain states in the Midwest and Florida. Through MRM, National can make buys on large portals like Yahoo and MSN but can target these buys to smaller markets.
“This is one of the first times we have worked on an account that would go all the way down to a local marketing level,” said Marret.
National is revamping to cater to young adults, a demographic predisposed to using an online medium for banking and for receiving marketing messages.
National has also expressed openness to the use of emerging media. No campaign ideas have been finalized, but digital outdoor advertising and shortcode response plans have been met with interest.
The bank’s direct mail arm will remain separate from MRM and Campbell-Mithun for now. The bank does much of its direct mail work in-house, but Marret said she hoped to build that relationship in the future.
MRM and Campbell-Mithun have worked together for ten years, and their client list includes H&R Block and General Mills. MRM Worldwide, the global digital and direct marketing arm of McCann Worldgroup, is located in Minneapolis, MN.
