Bank Of America Says Its Needs A PR Makeover, Ad Agencies Say It Needs A 'Silver Bullet'

The highest level executives at Bank of America, from CEO Brian Moynihan to Investment Bank head Tom Montag are wracking their brains for a new marketing strategy for the company, reports Ad Age.You definitely can't blame them. It seems like every day there's someone expressing some kind of outrage directed at the bank. Think: Occupy Wall Street, a 22 year-old's successful campaign to get the bank to cancel proposed debit card fees, Bank Transfer Day, Funny or Die's internet meme thanking BofA for torturing customers, a San Francisco activist group's hijacking of BofA ATMs — there's more, but we'll just stop there.Last month, Bank of America sent out a memo to ad agencies asking for help. The bank is looking for a 'North Star' to guide business and marketing decisions. They want a new image, but experts say what they need is a 'silver bullet.'From Ad Age:The bank's agencies -- which include WPP's The Brand Union, Omnicom Group's BBDO and Interpublic Group of Cos.' Weber Shandwick and Hill Holliday, among others -- were alerted to the review in mid-January, and a slew of meetings have taken place in the past two weeks. Final presentations are set to be delivered in early April; that same month, BofA execs plan to commit to a new marketing direction....Bank of America is the 17th-largest marketer in the country with $1.55 billion in ad spending in the U.S. The company's rethink comes amid widespread mistrust of large financial organizations that manifested in the Occupy Wall Street movement.The bank's current slogan is "bank of opportunity," but ad industry professionals say that simply won't work (and certainly hasn't worked) given the current climate.In the end, the decision on what will ultimately be the bank's new marketing campaign will be driven by Anne Finucane, the bank's Chief Marketing Officer. She's a FleetBoston alum, a confidante of Brian Moynihan's, and according to a NYT profile of her written last month, she doesn't mince words.From the NYT:“This is not the best moment,” she said in early December. “This is the most complicated and the most challenging of my professional life.”She continued, saying that you can’t fix a reputation just with new slogans. “In order to repair reputation,” she said, “you have to repair the issues that underlie that.”True, but make-up doesn't hurt. So if you have any suggestions, I'm sure she would be willing to hear your thoughts. You can leave them in the comments section below, or e-mail us with them at llopez@businessinsider.com.Please follow Clusterstock on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »See Also:This Chart Shows You The REAL Reason Wall Street Loves Debt And LeverageMeet The Powerful Bankers Who Control America's Top Professional Sports TeamsSecretary Geithner Just Gave The Complete 'Here's Where We Are And Where We Need To Be Speech' On Wall Street Reform

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