In May 2015 global creative network Lowe and Partners merged with IPG agency network Mullen in the US to form the MullenLowe Group, a creatively led global agency network with a strong entrepreneurial heritage and challenger mentality. From January 2016, all Lowe agencies will be renamed MullenLowe across 90 offices in over 65 markets globally.

As a result of this Lowe and Partners SA – the best performing agency at last year’s ACA APEX Awards where it won the Grand Prix – is now called MullenLowe South Africa.

The MullenLowe South Africa offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town have been restructured to form a single, nimble and streamlined offering. “This benefits our clients hugely,” says chief creative officer, Kirk Gainsford, “as it allows them to enjoy easy access to our best people and the relationship as a whole is a lot more direct and open. There are no silos. This suits the way we like to work – we want to remain lean, we want to keep punching above our weight and we want to be creative challengers. That’s why we were the Top Small Agency at last year’s Loeries.”

Katinka Pretorius, MD of MullenLowe South Africa, adds that, with the reorganisation and several exciting new business wins in place, the group is well poised for a prosperous year in 2016 and beyond.

MullenLowe South Africa retains the Oil agency name for their lead brand strategy and research consultancy, which is headed up by Sarah Dexter. “By being part of a global creative boutique, and, with a strong entrepreneurial heritage and challenger mentality, we can provide clients with a ‘hyperbundled’ offering of the best talent across various disciplines,” says Dexter.

The new brand identity has been created to reflect the positioning of MullenLowe Group as a global creative boutique, with a challenger approach. Alex Leikikh, Global CEO of MullenLowe Group said, “The creation of MullenLowe Group has given us the opportunity to create a whole new type of global communications network. A network not defined by silos. A network with integrated communications planning built into the model. A network where we bring together the best cross section of our talent across all disciplines to work on client business challenges and drive more creativity.”

The MullenLowe Group network will now consist of four main brands: MullenLowe, delivering integrated marketing communications solutions; MullenLowe Profero, the digital pure-play network; MullenLowe Mediahub, providing media planning and buying solutions; and MullenLowe Open, offering behavior-driven activation, CRM and shopper marketing.

To visualise the new brand identity, the network employed its own talent to design its new logo, with the ‘Challenger Octopus’ marque being developed out of MullenLowe Brazil.

Jose Miguel Sokoloff, president of the MullenLowe Group Global Creative Council said, “The new ‘Challenger Octopus’ brand identity perfectly embodies the positioning of MullenLowe Group, as a creative company with a challenger attitude that is willing to take risks, and underscores a key competitive advantage of our network with our hyperbundled offering.”

For more information, visit www.southafrica.mullenlowe.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.