Grey N.Y. Resigns E*Trade

After a six-year run, Grey Advertising resigned E*Trade after the client said it was launching an agency review. An RFP went out this week as the first stage of the search. It could not immediately be determined which outside consultant is handling the process.

In 2012, E*Trade spent $112 million in measured media, according to Nielsen.

The review comes after the discount broker replaced Nick Utton, the CMO who worked with the agency on its successful talking baby campaign. Last month, E*Trade brought in Liza Landsman—who has worked on BlackRock, Citigroup and Bravas—as the broker's new CMO. At the same time, it hired Morgan Stanley exec Navtej Nandra as president, head of retail banking at E*Trade. The company has had a steady succession of top management during Grey's tenure, including seven CEOs since 2007.

Grey N.Y. declined comment but in an internal memo, Tor Myhren, chief creative officer, and Michael Houston, chief operating officer, told staffers the move was in the "best interests" of both the agency and E*Trade. “Across six Super Bowls, the street-wise baby became synonymous with the E*Trade brand’s maverick, consumer-championing DNA, proving online investing is so easy a baby can do it … We will always look back on this relationship as one of the best and most famously effective in Grey’s history.”

E*Trade has not responded to inquiries.