Barclays' ad review reveals that nothing works like a contact.(Brief Article)(Column)

For those who follow account moves with the obsessive interest of a Campaign journalist, Barclays' recent creative and media account switches could score high on the outrageometer.

But first, a look at the banking group's recent PR record. An outside chief executive who resigned on his first day on doctor's orders, a retail chief executive who appeared to condone general bank profiteering by proposing charges for non-customers using its cash machines, an unpopular branch closure programme making a mockery of the expensive "big bank" ad campaign and revealed on the same day as details of the chairman's 1.4 million [pounds sterling] salary ... suddenly these agency switches look rather less important.

Anyway, our tale begins with the 15 million [pounds sterling] media pitch, originally scheduled to take place at the end of 2000 but postponed to February this year to allow Barclays, a client with one of the more complex internal marketing structures on the planet, more time for planning.

The pitchlist was initially restricted to the banking group's roster agencies, with MediaVest defending its account against Optimedia and OMD. Starcom was invited on to the list later after a request from its parent company, Starcom MediaVest Group, that both its agencies be allowed to compete. Starcom won, and its appointment was one of the first decisions made by Barclays' group marketing director, Simon Gulliford, who joined Barclays in May this ...