On his recent visit to Singapore, Lowe Worldwide CEO Michael Wall spoke to Campaign about how they were gearing up to put a stake in the ground for doing ground breaking work which will help them attract the right talent base.
“Lowe was always regarded as individual agencies and never as a whole,” said Wall. “We spoke about Lowe Thailand, Lowe Vietnam, Lowe Indonesia but never as Lowe Asia Pacific. One of the things which we want to develop is our regional footprint by being based here in Singapore,” he said.
He observed many clients were beginning to relocate to Singapore as its increasingly regarded as a regional hub as well as a local office. “Singapore is once again becoming a regional hub for a broader range of marketing clients; and to establish Lowe as a strong agency brand in the region, we see Singapore as the place to be based and to promote ourselves,” Wall stated.
Given the fact that Lowe has had a presence in Asia and has been doing some good work in the region, Wall felt that he had the foundation in place, and all he had to do was bring the strengths together and create a regional portfolio for Lowe as a brand.
Wall also demonstrated confidence in Singapore as a market pointing to its double-digit growth and said, “One of the interesting things about this market from an agency point of view is the faster rate of growth in the region, be it within the emerging or developed markets, a greater level of ambition and a flow of talent which is much more entrepreneurial, much more dynamic, and willing to learn and change and adapt.”
Speaking about challenges, Wall stated the two permanent ones. “There are of course permanent ones of bringing in and retaining the clients, which is something of a challenge to all agencies,” he said. “The second one is to ensure that the products and services we offer to our clients stands for something and upholds Lowe’s values. As we are all treading the learning curve, particularly to do with social media, we are trying to learn and at the same time respond to how it engages with the brand and marks an effects on it.”