By Greg Hazley
Bank of America is withdrawing PR business from Emanate as it invests more with Burson-Marsteller in its bid to burnish an image bruised after the financial crisis.
B-M, part of WPP, already works with BOA's Merrill Lynch unit and handled crisis communications for its Countrywide Financial division when the mortgage unit was a poster child for the subprime mortgage mess in 2007-08.
Emanate, a mid-size spinoff of Omnicom's Ketchum, counts BOA among its largest clients with its consumer and small business banking operations among its purview. Emanate's lineup includes clients like KFC, Philips Norelco, Burger King and Tetley Tea.
Bank of America earlier this year moved its advertising business from Omnicom to WPP, as well.
Weber Shandwick remains on BOA's roster.
Ann Finucane oversees global strategy and marketing for BOA, including advertising and communications. In outlining the PR challenges on the public, financial and regulatory front ahead of BOA last year, the New York Times noted that since the financial crisis "no big bank has lost more of its luster." |