New Lowe Thailand CEO named as Tony Prehn steps down

Prehn’s 25-year career with the company started at Lintas, now Lowe + Partners. He is credited with setting up what is now Lowe’s first agency in China in 1992. He has held posts in Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam, where he was MD in 2000.

Hine has been at Lowe + Partners since 2000, leading international business from the outset, including HSBC and the award-winning Stella Artois global account. He ran the InBev business for two years, leading the team that won the global Beck’s beer business. In 2008, he was appointed to director, CEE and Russia for Lowe + Partners, responsible for running nine Lowe agencies and overseeing Lowe + Partners affiliates in eleven markets. Most recently, he took on the additional role of global business director, Unilever Oral Care.

Prehn began at Lintas Australia in 1985, and has spent some 12 years working and living in Thailand. From EVP account management in 1995, a two year posting in Vietnam saw him set-up Lowe as the first wholly-owned foreign advertising agency. Back in Thailand he was promoted to chief operating officer in 2002 and CEO in 2003.

Talking exclusively to Campaign, Prehn said he is proud to have led the transformation of the agency from its traditional advertising base into an operation that now provides fully integrated services including digital, events, PR and brand consulting. In October last year, the Agency also launched Open in Thailand, to focus on retail and shopper marketing.

Prehn said that after 25 years with the company, the decision to leave was 100 per cent his own, and that he is pursuing a number of other opportunities in both Thailand and his native Australia.

Hine explained that there has already been an extended handover period, and that the overall aim is to build upon the strong platform in place. “We are moving toward integrated delivery of our creativity and I’m looking forward to driving the agency to the next stage. What we know now is that the power of an idea is that it can live within any channel.”

Charuvarn Vanasin, who retired as Lowe Thailand chairperson in 2009 to become chairman Emeritus, remains in that role, working alongside Hine.