Matthew, a copywriter by trade, worked for the two most prestigious agencies in South Africa before, in 1996 starting Lowe Bull. The agency grew to being one of the top five agency groups in the country and was consistently ranked by the prestigious Gunn Report as one of the top 50 creative agencies worldwide.
In 2003 he became CEO of Lowe in London – the UK’s second largest agency – whilst remaining chairman and majority shareholder of Lowe Bull in South Africa.
In 2005 he was promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Lowe & Partners Worldwide, with over 70 agencies and 5000 people under his auspices.
Mid 2011, having moved to New York, he sold his agency to the Lowe Group and resigned as Chief Creative Officer to start The Bull-White House in New York.
In 2015 he was lured to help turn around mcgarrybowen New York, an agency that had lost 30% of its revenue in three months. One year later they were named comeback agency of the year by AdAge.
In July 2017 he resigned to once more start his own shop, SoloUnion, which he describes as the advertising industry’s version of the sharing economy – its Uber, its AirBnb.
He is one of advertising’s most awarded creatives with over 20 Cannes Golds to his name and a further 50 Cannes Golds won for the Lowe network under his global leadership. He has served on advertising juries all over the world, including being President of Cannes Radio jury in 2009, as well as being a keynote speaker in several advertising forums worldwide.
The status quo makes him uncomfortable.
