Lowe launches retail activation agency OPEN in Manila

PHILIPPINES, DECEMBER 1, 2010 – Lowe + Partners throws the doors of OPEN wide in Manila. The retail activation agency’s newest office follows the multi-country launch of OPEN in London, Shanghai, Prague, Bangkok, Jakarta and Sao Paolo.

Spank, Lowe Philippines’ highly successful activation unit has been merged into OPEN, with talent and accounts fully migrated.  Alan Fontanilla, formerly Head of Spank, will assume leadership of OPEN. Fontanilla has undergone training in the use and implementation of OPEN’s proprietary shopper marketing strategic tools. “Combine this new skill set with Alan’s entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering experience in activation and I have no doubt OPEN will set the lead in this exciting & challenging sector,” said Mariles Gustilo, President and CEO of Lowe Philippines.
 
As a new kind of agency network, OPEN is dedicated to strategies and ideas tailor-made to the retail environment, whether it is a bricks-and-mortar or an online brand driven by an better understanding of consumer choices. While OPEN in the Philippines will provide traditional retailer and brand support – including advertising, retail design, in store promotion, brand identity, pack design, queue systems, event activity and signage – it will also offer expertise on digital activation and the mobilization of big ideas in-store and online.

“Retail activation in 2010 is a very different and more sophisticated game – moving from what essentially used to be advertising retrofitted to a shop environment, to what is now a more demanding environment, with new and fast challenges to be addressed at points of purchase and essentially where consumers can be influenced,” says Lowe + Partners  Chairman Tony Wright. “We believe there is room for strategic and creative excellence in retail activation built from a better understanding of how we make choices”.