• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, January 20, 2017

Cincinnati-based Empower MediaMarketing has been awarded media AOR duties for Fifth Third Bank. The win quickly fills an open category for the agency, which parted ways with US Bank last month after a 23-year run. 

Empower will lead media planning and buying efforts including social media and content marketing for Fifth Third, which is also headquartered in Cincinnati.

The incumbent was Publicis Groupe’s Mediavest | Spark. 

In 2015, Fifth Third recorded $110 million in marketing costs, according to its annual report for that year. Per Kantar Media, the firm spent $28.7 million on ads in 2015 and $20.5 million on ads during the first nine months of 2016.

Commenting on the selection, Sandra Hudnell, Fifth Third Bank’s head of digital and direct marketing stated: “Empower’s digital expertise and application of first and third-party data to better inform our marketing strategy played a huge role in our decision to partner with them. Empower helped us rethink how we interpret media, which is paving the way for innovative solutions for our business.” 

Hudnell added: “We also admire Empower’s reputation as a female-owned independent media agency that prides itself on being transparent.” 

Fifth Third has $143 billion in assets and operates nearly 1,200 banking centers. The company operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Investment Advisors. 

"Empower has a wealth of financial industry knowledge and experience leading banking clients,” said Empower President and CEO Jim Price.

Empower, MediaPost’s 2016 Media Agency of the Year, is coming off a banner year with record revenues including organic growth from 15 of its top 20 clients.