MullenLowe London has today (23 August) announced the acquisition of 101, axing the brand as the creative shop is merged into the recently revamped business.
Founded in 2011 by Phil Rumbol, Laurence Green, Mark Elwood and Steve Waring, 101 brings in clients including BBC, Heineken, Scottish Widows, Subaru and Zoopla.
Green and Rumbol are also responsible for a host of iconic ad campaigns, including Cadbury’s drumming gorilla, the Sony ‘Balls’ advert, and the rebrand of Skoda.
“Becoming part of MullenLowe doesn’t just mean a broader offering for our clients and a bigger stage for our colleagues,” said Green.
“We know, like and respect the team, and we share their mission to win an unfair share of attention and success for their clients. It’s an exciting new chapter for us all, perhaps especially for Phil and I as people who earnt their advertising spurs at Lowe, as client and strategist respectively.”
The acquisition comes after several months of additions to MullenLowe Group in the UK, which appointed Jo Arden from 23red as chief strategy officer, Dino Myers-Lampty from the7stars as managing director of MullenLowe Mediahub, and added MullenLowe salt, the strategic communications and PR agency, to their list of specialisms.
Dale Gall, MullenLowe London’s CEO, said: “It is no secret we have been rebuilding MullenLowe London to match our vision of bringing together best of breed creativity, PR, digital, media, CRM and strategy. This means working together as a hyperbundled team, with one P&L, under one roof – to disrupt the status quo and create the next generation of agency.
“In acquiring the great talents that make up 101 we see the opportunity to accelerate this ambition.”
In October 101 will be fully merged with, and rebranded as MullenLowe London with the founders becoming part of the management team.
101’s employees will move into MullenLowe’s Old Street offices.
