Vega Olmos is taking over responsiblility for Unilever from Adrian Holmes, the chairman of Lowe Worldwide. Vega Olmos will oversee Lowe's work for Unilever across all its major markets.
He takes up the role at a critical time for Lowe's European division. Lowe lost the £8m European advertising account for laundry brand Surf to fellow Unilever roster agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty last December.
It also lost the £53m pan-European account for Unilever's Flora after a shootout with BBH in July.
Lowe axed more than 50 jobs from its London office after losing its flagship HSBC and Braun accounts in June.
Jerry Judge, the chief executive officer of Lowe & Partners Worldwide, said: "A client of Unilever's size and importance should expect constant stimulation when it comes to its creative product. Fernando is a hugely talented creative leader. Since he's already been doing great work for Unilever, we'd expect the calibre of our creative product to continue to get better elsewhere under his leadership."
His appointment will allow Vega Olmos to continue in his role as the chairman of Latin American agency Vega Olmos Ponce.
Before joining Lowe, Vega Olmos worked for the BBDO and Grey networks in Argentina, first as creative director at Ratto BBDO and then as executive creative director and partner at Caesares Grey.
He joined forces with Hernan Ponce to create Vega Olmos Ponce in 1997. VOP/Lowe & Partners was born in 1999 and the agency now handles domestic and international business.
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