ING Direct hires John St.
By Adnews Staff
ING Direct has retained John St. of Toronto as its advertising agency. The assignment includes various forms of advertising and related counsel. The agency will begin work by assessing the bank's brand strategy and possible growth options. New advertising will likely be released sometime in 2012. "The financial services industry has undergone dramatic changes since ING Direct came onto the scene almost 15 years ago," said Andrew Zimakas, marketing vice-president at ING. "It was time to take a fresh look at how to keep our brand evolving and to stand out from the competition. We're at a point in the brand's lifecycle where we are becoming more important in the everyday lives of our clients. With the launch of Thrive Chequing, we now have the products to serve Canadians in all of their day-to-day banking needs. We felt this required a major shift in how we market the bank to Canadians." ING also continues to use the services of Initiative Media, Dashboard and Response Innovations.