Hasta La Creative!

This morning brings both official and unofficial news from Detroit-based Lowe Campbell Ewald.

From the press release, Managing Director Kevin Wertz is now the agency’s president. Wertz joined LCE in 2007 and moved to Texas in 2009 to open its San Antonio office; in the new role he will split his time between Texas and Michigan, reporting directly to CEO Jim Palmer.

This announcement comes two weeks after LCE officially won the Cadillac account from Hill Holliday, but Wertz will not manage that client; his new responsibilities include leading all of the agency’s non-automotive accounts in both offices as well as handling “media, strategic planning, analytics, digital strategy and social media capabilities.” Prior to joining Lowe, he served as VP/account director at Doner.

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Well, we sent inquiries to a few folks last week about this last week after receiving tips like this on Oct. 17: “Lowe NY Again??  Lowe is opening a ny office and the Milk account guy Sal Taibi is being tapped to run it as CEO.  Maybe old lowe clients going w him.   Ronald wohlman is the head creative guy.  Lowe/Campbell Ewald & hill holiday won Cadillac work awhile ago – Lowe NY to take up residence in ny hill holiday office.”

Now, reports are out confirming this and Sal Taibi is indeed leading the charge, not as CEO but as president of Lowe Campbell Ewald’s New York operation. Taibi most recently served as partner/GM at Deutsch NY but spent 16 years prior to that at Lowe, last serving in a similar role as president. No confirmation yet on Ronald Wohlman, but it doesn’t seem too far-fetched considering that he’s already spent the last nine years at Lowe, most recently serving as CCO on the Unilever, North America business.

We’ve just received the official release announcing the new LCE New York office, and in a statement, Lowe & Partners CEO Michael Wall says, “Lowe Campbell Ewald is an agency with a strong heritage and an integrated full service offering that drives great business results for its clients. This combination has already begun to show results as the agency complements Lowe’s
international network. Being able to front those capabilities out of New York alongside the existing U.S. locations should prove an attractive proposition for both national and international clients. Sal Taibi is a natural choice to lead New York given his experience in the market, the strength of his client relationships and his intimate knowledge of Lowe.”

Lowe Campbell Ewald New York is expected to officially open its doors in January 2014 and will include clients Taibi and crew have previously worked with. Regarding the new office, Jim Palmer, LCE CEO who essentially took over for Bill Ludwig this summer, adds, “Our new presence in New York speaks to the commitment we have to Lowe and the momentum our agencies are building together. Our New York office will bolster our national footprint from coast to coast. With offices in Detroit, Los Angeles, San Antonio and now New York, plus Lowe’s international talent and distribution channels, Lowe Campbell Ewald is poised to better help clients navigate the ever-evolving global media and marketing environment.”

Update: So, as of now, the Wohlman tip isn’t true as we’ve been told that no staffing decisions beyond Sal Taibi heading the office have been finalized yet. We’ll keep you posted. On the note about “Lowe NY Again?,” our sources clarify that Lowe has always had a NYC presence since Sir Frank Lowe led the ship and continued through the partnership with sister agency Deutsch, whose name was ‘Deutsch a Lowe and Partners Company’ since 2009. Now, it’s on to the next chapter.

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Well, this is an interesting management shakeup in what’s already turned out to be quite the busy month at Campbell Ewald–sorry, Lowe Campbell Ewald. Less than a year after joining up with Detroit-based LCE as chief marketing officer, Barbara Yolles and said agency have parted ways. No word yet on if there are immediate plans to replace her, but this marks the second notable management shift at LCE following the departure of longtime CEO Bill Ludwig, who of course was succeeded by Jim Palmer earlier this month.

As for Yolles, the now-ex-LCE CMO joined from McCann, where she initially served in the same role of the latter’s Midwest region before moving up to chief growth officer, North America. During her career, she also had two stints on the account side at Doner and also served as EVP/group managing director at KBS+. Update: We’ve been told that there are no immediate plans to replaces Yolles at Campbell Ewald as of now.

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Well, we guess this is notable enough to merit a separate non-Stir post. So yeah, as you may have read this morning, there’s a changing of the guard at IPG-owned Detroit stalwart Campbell Ewald, which has not only welcomed a new CEO, but has joined the global Lowe network. As a result, the new entity will now be known as, yes, Lowe Campbell Ewald and will be led by Jim Palmer, who has been with CE for over 20 years and most recently served as its vice chairman/chief client officer.

As you can gather, Palmer (pictured) is taking over for 31-year Campbell Ewald vet Bill Ludwig, who we’ve been hearing for weeks was no longer with the agency, which was repeatedly telling us otherwise. Along with Palmer assuming the top post, CE president Kathleen Donald will take on the role of chief operating officer and add more management responsibilities. Regarding Ludwig’s departure, IPG chairman/CEO Michael Roth says in a statement, “Bill Ludwig is leaving the agency poised for growth. We wish him well and thank him for his many contributions to the agency over a 31-year career, including putting in place a new generation of management that understands contemporary integrated marketing and the digital landscape.” According to the CE camp, Ludwig could still work in some capacity with IPG.

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