Hill, Holliday Is Knocking at BofA's Back Door

NEW YORK Bank of America says its agency relationships haven't changed: Omnicom Group, with lead agency BBDO, remains in charge of the nation's largest bank's $600 million in marketing communications. IPG's Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos in Boston has a supporting role, handling global wealth and management chores.Still, although BBDO may be driving the overall image of BofA, Hill, Holliday has been the agency behind three recent campaigns on behalf of its global wealth and investment management division, which BofA described as a "broader visibility initiative" for the unit. Hill, Holliday execs aren't commenting, but the onslaught of advertising this quarter is intriguing. When the agency won the business last January without a review, it was thought to be an assignment mainly for direct marketing and collateral. Hill, Holliday is an agency known for its practice of adding new business without reviews, and just last year ascended to the lead position on AOL's brand account after initially handling project work.Hill, Holliday launched its latest BofA salvo last weekend, a new $35 million national pitch representing the bank's first comprehensive retirement campaign. Last month, Hill, Holliday supported BofA's U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management unit with a $25 million effort running in nearly 50 markets. In September, the agency's work for Columbia Management, the primary investment management arm of BofA, made its debut. That pitch is mostly print driven, and the amount of marketing support behind it could not be determined.A BofA representative on Friday downplayed Hill, Holliday's role, stressing that the current advertising coming out of the agency is part of the "original scope of work" moved to the shop in January. Moving the business out of Omnicom does not indicate any dissatisfaction, he added. "Omnicom is our agency of record and continues to drive our creative across all the agencies we work with," he said. Even so, Hill, Holliday's role is larger than was originally expected when the bank broke ranks with Omnicom and gave business to an Interpublic unit. Much of that business had been with Doremus, a unit of Omnicom that won the business as part of BofA's global consolidation in August 2005.For Hill, Holliday, the scope of work thus far has proven to be more wide-ranging and multifaceted than expected—and it appears there's even more to come.In BofA's statement on Friday about the retirement campaign, the company said the effort, which initially emphasizes BofA's IRA offerings, "is expected to lead into a larger awareness-building campaign focused on ... broader capabilities and brand presence in the retirement space next year."A company rep said it's too early to know how much emphasis that effort would receive relative to marketing efforts at Omnicom shops like BBDO.A BBDO rep referred calls to the client. Hill, Holliday CEO Mike Sheehan didn't return calls.Anne Finucane was named BofA's chief marketing officer in March 2006, after global CMO Catherine Bessant was tapped to run BofA's global treasury division. Finucane had worked at Hill, Holliday for 14 years before becoming the agency's client while CMO at FleetBoston, which was acquired by BofA in 2004. She has described Hill, Holliday co-founder Jack Connors as a mentor and one of her "very good friends." Finucane is based in Boston, rather than the bank's Charlotte, N.C., headquarters, as is Hill, Holliday's flagship office. When Hill, Holliday won the BofA business earlier this year, Finucane praised the shop's long-standing financial services experience.Hill, Holliday's Sheehan has said the agency likes to bring in new business "through the back door," without reviews. A recent example of that occurred in September 2006, when it pitched and landed $300 million in AOL's brand advertising work out from under BBDO. Hill, Holliday had previously handled various AOL projects, such as ads touting the launch of AOL's In2TV. Hill, Holliday was a finalist in AOL's 2003 review, won by BBDO, and has long-standing ties to the client through former vice chairman Ted Leonsis, who hired the shop in 1999 to produce ads for his Washington Capitals NHL team.

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Hill, Holliday Is Knocking at BofA's Back Door

Noreen O'Leary

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Noreen O'Leary