The Omnicom-owned OMD has picked up the media planning and buying account following a competitive pitch that was launched towards the end of 2022.
One of the biggest media accounts in adland, it had been held by dentsu for a number of years. The agency first won the account back in 1999 when Carat/All Ireland Media first picked it up. Following a competitive pitch in 2006 that involved OMD and Starcom Mediavest, Carat successfully retained it and has held on to it ever since.
The creative account, which is handled by Grey London and Oliver, is not impacted by the move.
One of the biggest investors in marketing and advertising in the Irish market, Bank of Ireland has a wide range of sponsorship properties including Leinster Rugby, Munster Rugby and Ulster Rugby and it has been behind a number of recent campaigns to encourage customers to be wary of online fraud as well as providing “switching” advice to customers of departing banks KBC and Ulster Bank. The campaign was fronted by celebrity Baz Ashmawy and his mother Nancy. Since the beginning of 2022, over 1m current and deposit accounts have been switched from the two departing banks to Bank of Ireland, AIB and permanent tsb.
The win for OMD follows on from its retention of the Virgin Media account towards the end of 2022. Clients of OMD, which is headed up by Fiona Field, include Carin Homes, Barry’s Tea, Dublin Bus, Irish Rail, Liberty Global, Renault, Flahavan’s, Specsavers, SSE Airtricity, Bus Eireann and Valeo Foods.
