PERSPECTIVE: Lowe never matched the success of WCRS on Orange - but why?(Lowe resigns Orange PLC account)(Brief Article)(Column)

Two years ago I wrote this column about the departure of the Orange account from WCRS to Lowe. WCRS created a brilliant valedictory ad for the same issue with 'hello' on the left-hand page and 'goodbye' on the right, and copy saying that Orange was worth zero when it appointed WCRS in 1994 and pounds 28 billion when it left in 2000.

I doubt if Lowe will be moved to create an ad to mark its resignation of the account this week, not least because Orange, although bolstered by acquisitions, is worth about 25 per cent less than it was in 2000. For while Lowe has proved itself capable many times over of memorable advertising, it has never matched the heights of Stella Artois, Heineken or Olympus for Orange.

And even if it had been asked to repitch by Orange's incoming marketing director, Jeremy Dale, Lowe would have faced the 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' syndrome. Do you throw out all the work you've previously done, thereby admitting you were wrong all along, or do you stick to your guns and pretend that everything will turn out right in the end, thus allowing the client to infer that he was stupid to call a review in the first place?

In theory, it must be better to try to gee up the teams working on the business and negotiate a period within which you try to rebuild the relationship. Which is precisely what Lowe's chief executive, Chris Thomas, did with his request for a 100- day stay of ...