To the surprise of no one, Toronto Dominion-Canada Trust has awarded both its creative and media accounts to former Canada Trust agencies.

The creative assignment went to Harrod & Mirlin/FCB, while media buying duties were given to The Media Company/MBS. Both agencies handled these responsibilities for Canada Trust prior to its Feb. 1 merger with Toronto-Dominion Bank. The value of the account is estimated to be approximately $25 million.

The outcome of the review furthers the perception in the community that the former Canada Trust marketing regime rules the roost at the new TD Canada Trust.

The former TD agencies will continue to work on some portions of the bank’s business, says Domenic Mercuri, senior vice-president of advertising and marketing services for the financial services giant. But all business under the TD Canada Trust name – TD Bank’s retail banking division – has been consolidated with H&M/FCB and The Media Company, to "ensure a consistent brand voice."

Peter Shier, president of Harrod & Mirlin/FCB, says he is "thrilled" with the win. (The agency also picked up the Compaq Canada business just days later, after the computer manufacturer’s U.S. head office moved its global account to H&M/FCB’s parent, Foote, Cone & Belding Worldwide.)

"I think we’ve done good work for Canada Trust in the past," Shier says. "That’s why they made the decision they did."

Since the Feb. 1 merger, the TD Canada Trust marketing department has been led by Chris Armstrong, executive vice-president of advertising and marketing services, and his second-in-command, Mercuri. Both are former Canada Trust executives.

Insiders expect a number of former TD marketing staff to be let go.

According to sources, Canada Trust’s marketing people were researching the potential implications of a merger with another financial institution long before talks with TD began. The goal was to ensure that Canada Trust would end up calling the marketing shots after such a deal went down.

As for the just-completed review, sources say that it wasn’t really a review at all, given the absence of a structured process or a written brief for the participating agencies, and contend that it was weighted heavily in favour of the Canada Trust agencies. (John Boniface, H&M/FCB’s newly appointed vice-president, general manager, was reportedly hired away from Padulo Integrated to head up the TD Canada Trust business even before the review was completed.)

The former TD agencies that retained pieces of the bank’s business are: TBWA Chiat/Day, which will handle TD Waterhouse in Canada; Gee, Jeffery & Partners Advertising, which has TD Asset Management and TD Securities; and SGCI Communications of Sackville, N.B., which also works on TD Asset Management.

McDonnell Haynes has been assigned collateral work, while Response Innovations will handle direct marketing. Both agencies are Toronto-based.