NatWest design groups lose to ad agency

NatWest is to sever its formal link with Minale Tattersfield & Partners and Smith & Milton Original, after appointing advertising, direct marketing and design group TBWA GGT Simons Palmer to replace its existing eight-strong marketing roster.

All eight roster consultancies were considered for the role, along with three outside agencies.

The agency is part of US marketing conglomerate Omnicom.

The changes will not affect the position of The Identica Partnership, which has overseen NatWest’s design strategy for the past three years (DW 12 June). The group was not on the roster.

It is believed that The Identica Partnership will work with TBWA GGT on various aspects of NatWest’s brand strategy.

The existing roster will be phased out in the coming months. This currently serves the seven parts of the NatWest Group operating under the familiar NatWest logo, which include retail banking, corporate banking, card services, mortgages and insurance.

“TBWA GGT has been appointed to ensure consistency in the increasingly cluttered and fragmented financial services industry. This will involve every aspect of customer interface with the bank and [its] … communications,” says a NatWest spokesman.

The spokesman says the appointment is unlikely to result in any design work at this stage, since TBWA GGT is essentially reviewing the brand’s implementation.

Further down the line, the agency will look to develop the brand and may call in other consultancies. “These may be former roster consultancies or they may not, it is too early to say at this stage.

But [TBWA GGT] can’t handle everything and will probably need other expertise at some stage,” says the NatWest spokesman.