Arc London axed in Leo Burnett group rebrand

Arc London, the agency which can trace its roots back to one of the UK’s founding sales promotion shops, IMP, is being renamed Leo Burnett as part of plans to bring all London businesses in the group under a single brand.
IMP was launched in 1967 – before the likes of KLP and Marketing Store – as International Marketing & Promotions when most ad agencies offered sales promotion services as a free add-on.
Geoff Marshall was its first managing director with Sandy Scott and Brian Francis among its first employees. A year later, it was incorporated as a division of Masius Wynne-Williams (the predecessor of DMB&B) and was eventually rebranded Arc in 2002.
The roll-call of former staff reads like a who’s who of the UK agency world, including John Farrell, Chris Satterthwaite, Ian Priest, John Quarrey, Andy Blackford, Dave Harris and Mike Spicer.
The latest restructure sees Arc London, as well as digital specialist Holler and luxury agency Atelier, scrapped in the UK and folded into the Leo Burnett group.
Leo Burnett said the move is a response to clients increasingly looking for integrated support from a one-stop creative agency.
Arc, Atelier and Holler will continue to exist in other markets.
Group chief executive Paul Lawson said: “We believe our reconfiguration is the best future-facing structure for our business. We’ve successfully road-tested the model with our clients and staff, who embrace the fact that we can work across disciplines without any of the usual barriers.”

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