Y&R New Zealand wins Co-operative Bank

The Co-operative Bank has appointed Y&R New Zealand as its new creative and media agency partner, which won the business without a pitch.

Y&R will take over from small Wellington agency Eleven and it will handle brand and retail creative and media planning and buying.

Says Sadhana Raman, general manager marketing & online, The Co-operative Bank: “2013 is going to be a milestone year for The Co-operative Bank. We were looking for an agency to help us achieve our ambitions. We reviewed the market, did an initial assessment of possible options, and concluded that Y&R NZ were absolutely the right partners for us – in terms of alignment in values, their approach and undoubted capability. We were also impressed with the extent to which they shared our passion for the exciting potential in our brand.”

Says James Hurman, managing director, Y&R New Zealand: “Here’s a bank with a genuine sense of purpose, point of difference and truly ambitious leadership. Because of those qualities we’d been attracted to The Co-operative Bank for some time, and we couldn’t be more excited about our new partnership.”

Says Scott Henderson, Wellington creative director, Y&R New Zealand: “It’s not often you get to partner with a team that has such a great story to tell… not just unique for the category, but pretty rare for business as a whole. It’s a great opportunity – and we’re delighted to be playing our part.”