The move will fill the gap left at the agency when Heineken shifted its global account out of Lowe & Partners in the US following the departure of creative chief Lee Garfinkel in February 2002. While Lowe had been retained to work on Heineken in the UK, it elected to resign the account after 30 years and keep Stella Artois.
According to reports, Interbrew has shifted the work after Lowe's advertising proved to be so effective.
Lowe's work in the UK has introduced the "reassuringly expensive" theme and built on the brand's Belgian heritage with a series of ads shot in French featuring typical rural scenes.
Most recently, the agency, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, picked up the £2m account to redesign the idents for Stella Artois' sponsorship of Channel 4's film series. Lowe Group's events company Lowe Brand has also worked on Stella Artois' tennis sponsorships.
McCann-Erickson's London office handled the advertising for Russia and other territories. McCann is also an Interpublic agency.
Last year, Interbrew designated Stella Artois as one of its "world brands", along with Hoegaarden, Becks, Bass Ale and Leffe. McCann-Erickson handles the advertising for Hoegaarden, as well as Rolling Rock.
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