Advertisment and Branding by Investment Banks in 2003

Merrill Lynch brings back the bull for its latest campaign
January 17, 2003

Merrill, the nation's biggest brokerage firm, is introducing a new slogan, ''Total Merrill'' to accompany a push to manage all of its investors' financial needs. The new campaign also brings back the bull -- the first to appear in Merrill's commercials since the mid-1990's.

Boathouse, a two-year-old agency in Dedham, Mass., created the ads.

Merrill has not used a slogan since it dropped ''Be Bullish'' a year ago. Since then, the firm has spent a lot of time and money on damage control.

Merrill ran other ads last fall that addressed the stock market's long slump in sober tones seldom heard from the firm famous for being ''Bullish on America.'' Those ads reflected more accurately the views of the firm's investment strategists, who have been among the most bearish on Wall Street for more than a year.

In the first 10 months of last year, Merrill spent about $60 million on advertising, or about half of the $118 million it spent in all of 2001, according to CMR. Not all of Merrill's competitors took the same tack. Morgan Stanley spent $151 million through October, almost as much as the $160 million it spent in all of 2001, CMR said.



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