PayPal taking on banks with the launch of a cashback debit card in the US is big in the consumer finance industry, in the US initially and maybe globally.
BBH has gone big with Will Ferrell too, showing how big, celeb-focussed advertising is still the most powerful way to launch an important new product.
Back in the UK another agency with a penchant for celebs, New Commercial Arts (Judi Dench for MoneySuperMarket, Dominic West for Nationwide, Colin Firth voicing Alzheimer’s Society) has been bought by WPP to merge with Ogilvy. Showing, perhaps, that WPP reckons really big creative agencies can still be a lever for growth in an adland dominated by digital media.
Publicis’ BBH is having a strong year on both sides of the Atlantic. WPP will be hoping for fireworks from the combined Ogilvy/NCA.
