Lowe wins Stella task from McCann-Erickson

Interbrew has consolidated the global advertising business for Stella Artois into Lowe, taking the account out of the hands of McCann-Erickson Worldwide in several territories.

Lowe already holds the account for the premium lager in the UK, where it is worth &£8.2m (Nielsen Media Research). An Interbrew spokesman declined to give the value of the global business.

The London office of McCann-Erickson Worldwide worked on the Stella Artois business in a number of territories including Russia, where the brand was launched in April 2001. McCann-Erickson is to be retained on Interbrew’s roster and will continue to work on the Rolling Rock brand in some territories, notably the US.

The Interbrew spokesman says that Lowe’s advertising “has proven to be quite effective so we are going to extend working with them”.

Lowe developed the strapline “Reassuringly expensive” for Stella Artois. It launched a new UK print campaign last month in style and fashion magazines. This featured valuable objects that had been damaged when they were used to open a bottle of Stella.

Lowe has had to give up the Heineken account to retain work on Stella Artois (MW December 7, 2000). Interbrew’s licence to brew Heineken in the UK market ends this year.

Lowe Group’s events company Lowe Brand was put in charge of event management and television rights for the Stella Artois tennis tournament in November, nudging out sports marketing company Octagon (MW November 7, 2002).