Lintas formally becomes Lowe in India

agencyfaqs! News Bureau

MUMBAI

In 1929, the Lever Brothers set up a house agency under the name Lever International Advertising Service, which, over time, came to be known as plain 'Lintas' the world over. And in India too, that is the name the agency's Indian subsidiary has gone by all these years, despite fuller nomenclatures such as Ammirati Puris Lintas, and the more recent Lowe Lintas & Partners (which was the result of the global merger between the Lowe & Partners network and Ammirati Puris Lintas, in October 1999).

However, all that is now history. The Interpublic Group-owned Lowe Lintas & Partners, India, has officially changed its name to 'Lowe', following a gala ceremony held at the Cooperage Grounds, Mumbai, yesterday evening. For the record, internationally, the new name (Lowe Worldwide) for Lowe Lintas & Partners Worldwide had come into effect last month.

"Lowe Lintas becoming Lowe Worldwide only reiterates the agency's commitment to more creative work, which Lowe is anyway known for globally," says Preet Bedi, director, Lowe.

Explaining the reason for changing the name of the agency, Jerry Judge, CEO, Lowe & Partners Worldwide, in a statement on Lowe's website, says, ".the agency that Frank Lowe originally founded in London in 1981 has always been associated with creative excellence. Accordingly, we have decided to lay the distinguished name of Lintas to rest. It has served a great agency very well since 1928, but we have decided that the values associated with the name Lowe are the ones that we wish to carry forward beyond the agency's 21st birthday, and into the new millennium. We are not just changing our name. This is a one time opportunity to reassert our collective belief that creativity, in all disciplines, pays."

In India, Lowe will continue to remain a part of the Group holding company, Lintas India Private Limited, which will retain its registered name. Among the changes that have been made are the agency's logo design and the email id format. The official Lowe logo is light blue (but is available in a palette of the other colours too), while the email ids are going to change to firstname.secondname@lowemail.com.

The change in name is bound to evoke mixed response in India, given the sheer authority associated with Lintas. As one ad professional had once said, the name Lintas denotes so much stability. "Lintas is a powerful brand in India," agrees Bedi. "It goes beyond people in advertising. Any second person would know Lintas. And now the feeling is 'Oh God, what will happen with the name change?' But, at the same time, we are all looking forward to the new journey." © 2002 agencyfaqs!