Lowe Singapore to downsize as HSBC brief exits

According to Nigel Gilbert, regional president at Lowe Singapore, the IPG agency will downsize over the next two months. While Gilbert declined to provide details, he noted: "HSBC was a substantial client and the largest spender among regional clients at Lowe. We are structuring around clients' focus and it makes sense for us to resize. "The transition (of the HSBC account to WPP) officially began in September. In Singapore, there is a good relationship with HSBC; they kept us on. Now the time has come to hand over the business. We will do what we can to relocate people in the region or with other IPG operations." Singapore, where the agency also handles the regional Johnson & Johnson account and Electrolux business, will remain Lowe's regional head office and there is not expected to be any change to the agency's map in Asia-Pacific. Gilbert added that the agency would also service the newly-won Dumex brief from Singapore. WPP was awarded the £350 million (US$628 million) HSBC account in May this year after one of the most high-profile pitches of recent years, which saw J. Walter Thompson succeed Lowe as the lead agency for the world's second-largest financial group.