A day is a long time in advertising.
Yesterday it was reported that Interpublic Group was considering folding its Bozell unit into sibling Lowe & Partners Worldwide [WAMN: 03-Feb-02]. Twenty-four hours later, those musings look more like a done deal, judging by an internal memo sent to Bozell staffers.
In the missive, obtained by AdWeek, the agency’s ceo Tom Bernardin reveals, “steps have been taken to bring about a Bozell/Lowe merger.
“This idea has been discussed in the past and set aside for various reasons. Now, it seems a very likely and desirable change for all of us.”
It was thought that one sticking point could be Bozell’s $170 million (€157m; £103m) Bank of America account, which would conflict with Lowe’s work for HSBC.
This obstacle appears to have been removed. “[The BofA business] will be moving to another IPG agency,” Bernardin continued. “The client has been involved in these discussions and is confident that they will find the right agency fit within the IPG organization. The client and IPG have expressed a desire to have our team continue on this business.”
Data sourced from: AdWeek.com; additional content by WARC staff
