Topic: Article Marketing – An Advertising Deal With Wachovia, but Suddenly Nothing to Market – New York Times

Three days after awarding a team of agencies owned by the WPP Group its creative and media assignments, Wachovia suspended the decision. And Wachovia was to have worked with other WPP agencies like Neo@Ogilvy, for digital marketing, and Soho Square, to create direct-mail campaigns to promote credit cards. Hours after Wachovia announced its decision on Friday, reports appeared on newspaper Web sites that Wachovia had started merger conversations with Citigroup, Wells Fargo and other banks. In its announcement on Friday, Wachovia said it would spend less on advertising in 2009 than it would this year, citing “market conditions” as well as the efficiencies of consolidating most of its campaigns at agencies all owned by the same company. The trade publication Advertising Age, in an article on its Web site on Monday, estimated that after all the deals now pending, Citigroup would emerge as the bank that spends the most each year on advertising and marketing, at more than $540 million, followed by JPMorgan Chase at more than $510 million. The acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America may also result in agency changes if Bank of America decides to reassign campaigns for Merrill Lynch to the agencies that work for Bank of America. read more

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