BANC ONE TO MOVE NORTH OF THE BORDER
By Adnews Staff
Banc One Corp. of Columbus, Ohio plans to open two Canadian offices in the next few weeks and may hire a Canadian agency, or a few Canadian agencies, to help promote the company, spokesperson George McKane told Adnews yesterday. No firm advertising plans have been made yet. Banc One markets credit cards. In the U.S., the company uses several agencies and promotes its credit cards using direct mail, event marketing and Internet advertising. Banc One will market Visa credit cards in Canada under its own brand and in conjunction with affinity and co-brand partners. For example, the company could market a credit card geared to skiers, which would come with a subscription to a skiing magazine. Or Banc One could co-brand a card with a university or college. Banc One plans to have two Canadian offices: an operations centre in Ottawa and a business development office in Toronto. The company is a division of First USA.