As Omnicom’s A$13.5 billion takeover of Interpublic Group sends shockwaves across holding-company networks – including the retirement of global MullenLowe – one ANZ agency is using the disruption to chart its own course.
303 MullenLowe has announced it will revert to its original name, 303, stepping out from under the multinational banner nearly a decade after adopting the global MullenLowe identity.
The move comes as Omnicom Oceania confirms it “cannot provide any commentary” on how many local jobs will be affected by the group’s plan to cut 4,000 roles worldwide.
But while the networks consolidate, 303 is choosing a different path: local control, local leadership and a return to the brand that first put it on the map.
Formed in Perth in 1991 and later expanded into Sydney, 303 only adopted the MullenLowe name in 2016.
Now, with offices across Perth, Sydney and Auckland, the agency says the rebadge marks a return to the spirit that built the business.
Attivo Executive Chairman ANZ, Anthony Gregorio, said the timing reflects an opportunity to steer the agency’s future from home soil.
“The team is embracing the opportunity to take the wheel of the agency’s future direction at a local level,” he said.
“With so much change at a multi-national level, it’s a great opportunity to take a capability-rich offering to market under a single brand, providing an end-to-end solution to clients with strategic orchestration at the core.”
Attivo Group CEO ANZ, Sue Squillace, said the 303 MullenLowe era leaves behind a strong creative foundation.
“The 303 MullenLowe brand has been synonymous with creative effectiveness and behavioural change. It has built a strong local position, based on its ability to help the ambitious brands of Australia, particularly those with a conviction to stand for something and effect real change,” she said. “It’s an exciting future ahead.”
Why 303 is betting on integration – not fragmentation
Beyond the name change, 303 says the core model remains intact: a fully integrated offering spanning media, creative, strategy, digital, PR and retail activation.
That multidisciplinary framing has long been the agency’s competitive edge, and it’s sticking to it.
303 argues its “unfair advantage” comes from solving commercial and communication challenges simultaneously – a strategy that has delivered outsized results for clients despite the agency’s size and share of voice.
The proof is in the recent wins. In 2025 alone, 303 secured:
• SafeWork NSW
• NSW Environment Protection Authority
• Netball WA
• Levande Retirement Living
• The Push-Up Challenge
• WA Museum
Its growing remit with Sanitarium and Bayer across Australia and New Zealand highlights the agency’s expanding trans-Tasman footprint.
The shop also continues to deliver large-scale creative and behaviour-change campaigns for brands including Budget Direct, Levande Retirement Living, OMO, Weet-Bix, St John WA, Lotterywest and SafeWork NSW.
Meanwhile, the holding-company earthquake continues
The timing of 303’s return to independence aligns with Omnicom’s global restructure. Following the IPG merger, Omnicom confirmed more than 4,000 jobs will be cut worldwide as it pursues A$1.1 billion in synergies.
Nick Garrett, CEO Omnicom Oceania, framed the shake-up as transformative: “This is a defining moment for our region. By bringing together the depth, ambition and talent of our people, while simplifying the architecture, we are creating modern, future-fit agencies and capabilities that will deliver world-class creativity and media, smarter data and technology integration, and new levels of effectiveness for brands in Australia and New Zealand.”
But for 303, the moment demanded a different kind of transformation – one that centres on autonomy rather than consolidation.
The new 303 remains majority-owned by Attivo Group, whose portfolio includes Mediahub, Tonic Communications, Farrimond, DNY, Hill Holliday and The Next Practice.
Nick Garrett
Clear stakes in a shifting landscape
As holding companies merge, compress, and re-architect, 303’s moves signal a distinctly ANZ response: leaner, locally led, and rooted in the creative effectiveness that built the brand decades ago.
In a year defined by global consolidation, 303 is betting that independence – not integration into a multinational – will be its unfair advantage.