HSBC turns up heat for global pitch: Regional agency review in HK this week

A source close to the news said the global agency review process is happening in five different regions including the US, the UK, and Asia.

Hong Kong is HSBC's key regional market. The client is asking local offices of the pitching agencies including JWT and Bates, Grey, Saatchi & Saatchi and BBDO about their agency structures and credentials, testing their chemistry with the teams and discussing sustainability, according to the source.

JWT, in partnership with Bates Asia, has been working on the HSBC account since 2004.

The result of this global agency review is expected to come out in March. As reported in Campaign Asia-Pacific in October the successful agency or agencies will work on a new strapline for the bank, which has yet to settle on a global strategy after deciding to scrap ‘The world’s local bank’.

In November, we also reported that McCann Erickson was out of the pitch for the US$636 million global advertising business. McCann said it dropped out to avoid conflict with another unnamed global bank it was pitching for, but sources close to HSBC claimed the agency was asked to drop out because of recent changes to its management team.

According to HSBC's group chairman's statement in its interim report, HSBC delivered a successful financial performance in the first half of 2012 thanks to revenue growth in Hong Kong, rest of Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Profit before tax for the six months amounted to US$12.7 billion, some US$1.3 billion ahead of the same period last year.

HSBC, listed on the London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda stock exchanges, has around 6900 offices in 84 countries and territories.