Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has named Martin Agency as their new lead agency, replacing Ogilvy & Mather, who formerly held the top ad position since October 2005.
Several companies entered the final round to determine who would represent Morgan Stanley, including Merkley & Partners and Wieden & Kennedy. The process was relatively subdued in contrast to the normal process of letting it out there as part of the additional publicity it generates for those involved.
What’s also interesting about changing ad agencies by Morgan is they had done little or nothing over the last couple of years, and so it’s odd in general their choosing a different agency at this time, but then again, that seems to signify they’re going to ramp up advertising now that things have settled down for them some, and are looking for growth and not just surviving.
Although I’m not completely aware of all the work being done by Martin in financing, the one I am familiar with is their campaign for Sun Life Financial, which was targeted at the U.S. market, although Sun Life has an international presence as well.
Projections for the 2009 ad campaign spending by Morgan is from somewhere around $35 million for the period of January 2009 to November 2009. That may be adjusted upwardly, but that’s according to the latest released data from the company.
The first advertising campaign by Martin for Morgan will be launched sometime in the latter part of 2010.
