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.
