Lowe merger not without problems

The merger of the Lowe and Lintas groups in Asia-Pacific is almost complete. However, while redundancies have been kept to a minimum, there have been some major casualties. Only in Singapore and Hong Kong did the two agencies have to physically merge because they each had a presence in both markets. In other Asian markets, both networks complemented each other to increase their regional coverage. The Singapore operation is now being run by Christopher Foo as chairman and Palani Pillai as managing director. Both were former heads of Lowe & Partners/Monsoon Advertising. The most senior departures from the new set-up are Greg Paull and Nick Fairhead. They were the managing director and head of creative respectively at Ammirati Puris Lintas. The merger in Hong Kong is still on-going, however, Lowe Lintas & Partners Asia-Pacific chief executive officer Ronald Yue refused to be drawn on whether Lowe personnel would also take charge in the SAR "Hong Kong has begun a soft integration, however, our ultimate aim is to look for maximum synergies. "The main consolidation will occur primarily in the backroom such as in finance, accounting and administration," he told MEDIA. However, he stressed that redundancies have been kept to a minimum because there wasn't much duplication of resources across markets in the region and there weren't many conflicting accounts to resolve. "The number of people in the region we have had to let go is very small. "I believe, it's less than five per cent," said Mr Yue. Last November, Lowe & Partners Worldwide combined with Interpublic's Ammirati Puris Lintas to form a new global network called Lowe Lintas & Partners Worldwide. Mr Yue said the match was a "perfect fit" because Lintas provided a strong global network, while Lowe provided a creative reputation. But despite the two agencies being bogged down in merger issues, Mr Yue said the new network was still maintaining an "effective client-agency partnership" and was still chasing new business. Earlier this month, the agency won the global Merrill Lynch HSBC account in a competitive pitch that reportedly included J. Walter Thompson and Bates. Mr Yue said: "The new Lowe Lintas group with its expanded network coverage and its creative reputation helped to win the account." Although the pitch took place in London, Mr Yue said that global resources were deployed including from Japan and Australia to secure the business.

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