Tesco drops Lowe London after 20-year partnership.

by Lucy Barrett, Marketing 07-Dec-05

Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket, is to move its entire £45m advertising account to a start-up agency headed by Sir Frank Lowe.

The decision deals a massive blow to Lowe London, Sir Frank's former
agency, which has held the account for 20 years.

On Monday night the supermarket confirmed it will move the account in

March 2006 to the agency headed by Sir Frank and Paul Weinberger, who

has quit as chairman of Lowe to join the start-up.

Frank Lowe retired from Lowe two years ago after being forced out by its
parent, Interpublic Group (IPG).

Insiders claim Tesco marketing director Tim Mason has been considering
the move for some time because of concerns about the way IPG has
conducted itself. The network recently announced that it was handing
back £3m, attributable to volume discounts Lowe had received from
its suppliers, but had not passed on to Tesco.

The move leaves Lowe London in a perilous position. The agency, headed
by chief executive Garry Lace, has been trying to recover after a series
of big account losses over the past two years. The agency has halted its
anticipated takeover of DFGW.

During Lowe's tenure, Tesco has become the UK's biggest supermarket.

It is the agency's biggest piece of business, accounting for about
£5m in revenue.

The creative team responsible for the hugely successful 'Every little
helps' campaign are to follow Weinberger.

There are unconfirmed reports that Frank Lowe is preparing to raid two
other London ad agencies for his management team.

DDB London chief executive Paul Hammersley and chief strategic officer
David Hackworthy are tipped to be going, as is JWT managing director
Mark Cadman. Both Hammersley and Cadman worked at Lowe in the past.

All three were unavailable for comment.