Simon Baker in the running to replace Barbara the banker for ANZ
Simon Baker, an actor in Nine show The Mentalist and the face of Samsung, is one of three celebrities in the running to replace Barbara the banker in the next series of ANZ commercials.
Two sources close to the client confirmed that Baker was among the favourites to represent the bank, but was “not locked in” yet.
ANZ recently confirmed that it was looking for a fresh approach in its advertising, and was putting “on hold” the unhelpful bank clerk Barbara character while the company explored new options.
ANZ would not confirm the news, but stated: “We’ve appointed a new global agency in Whybin TBWA so naturally we are looking at a range of new creative directions for the ANZ brand. There will be the usual speculation about what this involves but we’ll be letting people know as we finalise a new direction.”
Agency Whybin\TBWA won the global ANZ business two months ago, replacing former incumbents M&C Saatchi and DDB.
Baker, who was handed the lead role in The Mentalist in 2008, became the brand ambassador for Samsung last year, appearing in commercials as a science fiction hero.
ANZ has recently run old ads featuring former Sale of the Century host Tony Barber, created by M&C Saatchi and adapted by DDB, to promote its mortgages and home loans. The ads carry the endline “We live in your world”.
The entire industry knows that this has been shooting for a while now with David Deneen in both Los Angeles and Melbourne.
Let’s just hope it’s better than the nasty Samsung spot eh?
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9 just axed the show as well (Between The Lines)
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