ASB taps The Monkeys and Accenture Interactive

AUCKLAND, Today: ASB has appointed The Monkeys and Accenture Interactive as its new agency of record with the bank signing on as the agency’s foundational client in New Zealand. dentsu was the incumbent.

The appointment follows a competitive pitch process which saw expressions of interest from a wide range of high calibre brand, marketing and digital agencies.

The Monkeys and Accenture Interactive will work alongside existing media and search agency partners to deliver a number of services for ASB, including creative, strategy, digital experience and innovation.

ASB Auckland-based brand & marketing practice lead Shane Evans said the agency group is the right partner as ASB looks to deliver on its digital and data ambitions.

“We were very impressed with The Monkeys and Accenture Interactive team through the pitching process and the ideas they put forward and I’m confident the combination of this creativity with the group’s strong digital credentials will help ASB to stay one step ahead.

“We are committed to continuing to evolve our award-winning marketing automation capability to deliver best in class customer communications. Accenture Interactive is an internationally recognised leader in innovation and the expertise its team brings will help inform the evolution of our marketing, and help us to stay ahead of the curve.”

“This decision has been about looking at the broader set of skills required to take us forward and we felt The Monkeys and Accenture Interactive were the right fit.”

The Monkeys Sydney-based co-founder and group ceo and Accenture Interactive ANZ lead Mark Green said: “ASB is driven by a passion for its customers and helping them live life one step ahead by providing simple, meaningful ways to help them improve their financial wellbeing, today and tomorrow. The bank champions fresh thinking and we are delighted to help them continue to be innovative and grow.

“We are truly excited to have ASB as our foundation client here in Auckland and we look forward to working with the team to deliver creativity and stand out solutions to help them grow even further.”

ASB’s Evans acknowledged incumbent agency dentsu Creative (WiTH Collective) for its support.

“We would like to thank the team at WiTH Collective who have been a great partner to ASB for the past four years and through this RFP process. WiTH has worked closely with our team as we set our current brand strategy and have done some tremendous work.

“This decision however has been about looking at the broader set of skills required to take us forward and we felt The Monkeys and Accenture Interactive were the right fit,” says Mr Evans.

The new contract takes effect on Wednesday 1 September.