Toronto-based Roche Macaulay & Partners is the latest agency to change its name to emphasize the global network it belongs to, following similar moves by TBWAChiatDay, Bryant Fulton & Shee and Vickers & Benson Arnold last month.

The new moniker, Lowe Roche, makes the shop’s affiliation to Lowe New York, which has been a minority owner of Roche since 1996, more transparent.

‘[The new name] reflects better who we are,’ explains Lowe Roche president Brett Marchand, who had stints as the founder and president of high-tech firm Onside and VP of marketing at Molson before joining Roche in March of last year.

‘As a client, you either see small, independent Canadian-owned shops with no global connections, or big conglomerate multinationals…where the principles of the agency aren’t involved in your business. This is a way to make it a little more obvious that [marketers] get the best of both worlds.’

The Toronto agency is also hoping it will now stand out to the 98-odd Canadian advertisers that already work with Lowe elsewhere in the world, says Marchand, who adds that the connection has already led to seven new business wins in the last year, worth about $20 million in billings. Among them is the beer brand Stella Artois, which was awarded to Lowe on a global basis. However, Lowe Roche also won domestic business from Johnson & Johnson (J&J Baby, J&J Kids, ph5.5), Nestle (Turtles and Coffee Crisp), Thompson Multimedia (RCA), and Coca-Cola (Nestea).

‘We used our connection as a way to get a foot in the door,’ says Marchand. ‘In most cases, we had to pitch for the business.’

Geoffrey Roche, CD at Lowe Roche, says the global network has been a ‘great help.’

He explains: ‘Oftentimes in large multinationals, marketing departments are not always the first to know [how the brand is performing] worldwide. We can tell them how the business is doing in London or Australia. The Lowe connection allows us to bring a lot to the party – and it has made a huge difference.’

Lowe Roche doesn’t appear to be alone in its thinking. Late last month, two other Canadian agency networks altered their names to reflect global alliances.

Shops under the TBWA umbrella, including Vancouver-based agency Bryant Fulton & Shee, which also has offices in Calgary, and Toronto-based TBWAChiatDay, have been renamed TBWAVancouver, TBWACalgary and TBWAToronto respectively. Tam TamTBWA, a minority-owned office in Montreal, is the only player that retains its current designation.

According to a release, the change is meant to ‘capitalize on [the agencies’] membership in the worldwide TBWA network.’

Similarly, Vickers & Benson Arnold will now be referred to as Arnold Worldwide Canada in order to ‘fully embrace [its] primary company brand,’ says chairman and CEO John Hayter.

In addition to the overall agency renaming, its various divisions will also reflect the new philosophy – its direct and online marketing division, VBDI, is now called Arnold Brand Response; its interactive consulting arm, Wideframe, has become Arnold Interactive; and its PR firm, Warwick Public Relations, is now Arnold Public Relations.