Hasta La Creative!

When IPG folded Lowe into Mullen, everyone wondered where the man who supposedly engineered the deal would go next. Now we know. Former Lowe CEO Michael Wall, who helped “create the roadmap” for Mullen Lowe Group, has been appointed as Mother’s global CEO. He will work out of Mother’s London office alongside existing Mother Holdings partners, Matt Clark, Andy Medd, Robert Saville and Mark Waites, leading Mother’s business across all offices as well as expanding Mother to new markets and sectors.

Wall served as CEO at Lowe and Partners beginning in September of 2009, when he filled a role left by the departure of Stephen Gatfield, who agreed in 2006 to take the role for three years. Prior to joining Lowe, Wall was best known as one of the founding partners of Fallon, where he helped oversee the agency’s rise to prominence and became president international in 2005 before leaving the agency two years later. He briefly served as CEO of BBDO Portugal before becoming global CEO at Lowe. Wall began his career as a graduate trainee at DMB&B, where he worked on accounts including Budweiser, P&G and COI. In 1992 he joined Lowe Howard Spink, where he worked on the agency’s Coca-Cola and Tesco accounts. He became a board account director for start-up Simons Palmer (who later merged with TBWA) in 1995, working on the Sony Playstation launch.

“We have been chasing Mr Wall for years,” said Robert Saville. “He is not an easy man to catch. He wasn’t an easy man to beat either as Mother and Fallon faced up against each other over the years. Mother has needed Michael’s skills in business leadership for a while.But more importantly we welcome a genuinely good person with the same passion for the transformative power of creativity into the family. I suspect Michael will make us all better.”

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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