Business adviser Ernst & Young plans to launch a dollars 100m
(pounds 62m) global branding strategy, working with newly appointed
agency DMB&B.
It will be managed from New York and represents the first time Ernst &
Young has undertaken any worldwide advertising. The 1997 US advertising
account stood at dollars 13m (pounds 8m).
The campaign has already been developed by DMB&B and is due to launch in
late autumn.
Jill Finney, Ernst & Young’s corporate marketing director, denied that
the move was a reaction to increased competition among the ’big six’
accountancy firms.
’We had already moved toward a global branding initiative last October.
Plans were put on hold following the proposed merger of Ernst & Young
with KPMG Peat Marwick, and readdressed when the merger was called off,
at the beginning of 1998.’
Andersen Consulting and Deloitte & Touche each launched multi-million
dollar marketing campaigns in June, while Price Waterhouse and Coopers &
Lybrand merged to form PricewaterhouseCoopers at that time.
Local executions of Ernst & Young’s global branding campaign will vary,
although DMB&B will oversee the process and local ad agencies will not
be involved.
The strategy includes global sponsorship, which will be developed by
Stephanie Shern, the company’s vice-chairman, responsible for marketing
and planning.
John Farrell, the former chairman of DMB&B in the UK who heads the North
American operation, will lead the global team.
He said: ’Strategically, Ernst & Young is exactly the kind of business
DMB&B is best at - a client which is committed to building a global
brand leadership position and sustaining it.’
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