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HSBC Saatchi & Saatchi Bbdo

McCann 'out of race' for HSBC £400m jackpot after abrupt exit of Brit Nick Brien

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

November 20, 2012 | 3 min read

Following Brit Nick Brien's s dramatic exit from McCann in New York, the agency is no longer going to pitch for HSBC’s global marketing business with an estimated spend of more £400 million, according to US sources.

HSBC: The world famous logo

McCann headquartered in New York was among a handful of global agencies seen as contenders in the review, encompassing both creative and media responsibilities.

McCann executives attended an HSBC briefing meeting last week but withdrew after parent company Interpublic suddenly replaced McCann Worldgroup CEO Nick Brien with Harris Diamond, said Adweek quoting sources.

The magazine's dry comment," Not the best time to pitch a massive global account."

Brien was said to be "surprised and angry" last week when told his job was ending immediately.He left Worldgroup offices that day.

Representatives for McCann and HSBC made no comment yesterday .

The HSBC review comes eight years after the giant UK bank consolidated advertising, media and direct marketing with a single holding company: WPP.

The review is expected to be completed by the end of March. The incumbents JWT and WPP will be defending the business and three other shops still in the hunt are BBDO, Grey and Saatchi & Saatchi .

HSBC's brand is one of the great success stories of modern marketing, according to HSBC themselves .

A company document put it this year , " Since 1998 we have operated under a single brand name combined with the graphic hexagon logo. Our iconic campaigns seen all over the world have drawn much favourable comment.

"The visibility of the brand and its unique marketing at airports has given us a very consistent personality and style."

So why the review? HSBC is said to want to benchmark its current agency roster against against the broader marketplace.

HSBC Saatchi & Saatchi Bbdo

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