Steve’s breakdown: Judging by the recent creative featured above, it’s probably a good move to put this into review. Especially because of the last line of the spot: “We know how now.” Can you do better?

SYDNEY, Austrailia: Westpac has put its creative advertising account out to pitch, with Sydney agencies DDB and Ogilvy vying for the business.

Incumbent Ted Horton’s Big Red, which won the account from The Campaign Palace in July last year, has not been invited to re-pitch.

A spokesperson for the bank confirmed to B&T that this was a regular review of Westpac’s agency roster and related only to Westpac retail and business banking. It will not impact arrangements on Westpac sub-brands St George, Bank of Melbourne and BT Financial. Ogilvy currently handles creative for the former two.

The below-the-line account, currently held by Lavender, will not be affected.

“Lavender has been below the line agency for more than 15 years and we are very pleased that they will continue in this capacity,” the spokesperson said.

The news follows the sudden exit of marketing chief Damian Eales in June and the arrival of ANZ’s John Harries as general manager of strategic marketing in July.

The bank held a pitch for its $70m media buying and planning accounts last year which saw MediaCom take out incumbent OMD for the business.

Westpac’s estimated ad spending on main media was $32.3m for the 12 months to April, up from $28.3m the previous 12 months, according to Nielsen.

Incumbent Big red was behind Westpac’s ‘We know how’ positioning which replaced  two-year-old slogan “We’re a bank you can bank on”, which was launched in 2009 during the GFC. Horton was appointed as the banks creative director for brand in May.

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