Eight agencies on PNB's roster

Punjab National Bank (PNB) has frozen on its agencies for the year. The list, which comprises eight agencies, has gone up from last year's four. Along with Interpub, Perfect 10, Basic 4 and Crossway Communication, which have been empanelled for the second time in a row, the list now features Bates 141, Mercantile Advertising, Impact and Indo Aryan as well.

While the creative duties will be handled by the agencies, the media duties will be looked after by their media counterparts. The agencies’ performance will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.

JWT, Capital, Lowe, O&M, Rediffusion and Percept H worked together on the account in 2005.

The empanelled agencies will pitch in their designs/ concepts for the ads PNB wishes to release from time to time. The job for the release of the ads in the print media will be assigned to the agency whose design/ concept is finally approved.

While the ad industry has been in a huff about pitch fees and costs of artworks produced for a pitch and not being paid for by the client, PNB has clarified that it will not pay any money for the conceptualisation and design of artwork that it does not approve finally.

The roster agencies have been instructed not to undertake any new competitive assignments, excluding those they are already handling, without PNB’s prior written consent.

Nationalised banks seem to be cashing in on the lull in private sector banks in the country. Almost all national banks are trying something new to grab consumers, who are distressed with their funds resting in private banks. PNB is no exception.

Looking at the current economic situation, the bank is trying to lure consumers through its revised interest rates – a 0.5 per cent reduction in interest rates for home, car and education loans, and a higher rate of interest on term deposits for a year to less than two years (10.5 per cent) and for senior citizens (11 per cent). Print ads for the same were released recently.

The bank is also mulling a brand makeover. Though it is not looking at a complete makeover with a change in logo and all, it will look at a change in tagline. The current tagline is: ‘The Name You Can Bank Upon’.

Sources confirm that apart from a strong brand building campaign, PNB is looking at particularly focusing on IT services, Net banking and ATMs, and tapping the youth, for which it needs to be perceived as a new age bank.

PNB opened first for business in 1895, with an original set of 14 shareholders and seven directors.