DLKW Lowe is to rebrand as Mullen Lowe London following the merger of the Interpublic agencies Lowe and Partners and Mullen earlier this year. DLKW Lowe and its sister agencies Lowe Profero and Lowe Open will operate from the same premises, a former carpet factory in London's Shoreditch, by the end of the year. Richard Warren, the co-founder and chief executive of DLKW Lowe, was last month promoted to the new role of UK chief executive at Mullen Lowe Group.

To help commuters survive the London Underground strikes relatively stress-free, ride-hailing app Uber has positioned itself to get people where they need to go by suggesting they use its ride-sharing service to reduce wait times. To help those stranded by the industrial action which commenced 18:30 on Wednesday, running until 21:30 tonight, Uber is using heat maps showing ride demands made through the app during last year's strikes, to estimate where the highest volume of travel requests will come from.

Brands that focus on loyalty-based campaigns over emotional messaging are much more likely to fail when it comes to creating long-term profitability, according to Les Binet, head of effectiveness at adam&eveDDB. Binet told delegates as yesterday's IPA Commercial Conference 2015 that marketers are still thinking "too short term" and not achieving maximum ROI as a result.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's (IPA) Director of Finance Tom Lewis highlighted the lowering of corporation tax and the increase in personal tax allowance as "of particular interest to the ad industry." Ian Twinn, ISBA's director of public affairs, said he believed "the biggest impact for advertisers will be the continued emphasis on a growing economy, more people employed and a steady reduction in public spending and the taxes needed to pay for it."

While lounging on a sunbed at the hotel before booking your holiday might have sounded a bit farfetched in the past, it's now a (virtual) reality. Thomas Cook and Thomson tell "Marketing Week" how technology is helping travel agents to evolve. TUI said yesterday it will roll out its new concept store format to more than 120 travel agencies throughout Europe. They aim to "inspire" customers planning their next trip with interactive tools such as interactive world maps and iPads.

Manchester City FC is aiming to coordinate marketing activities and data sharing across its growing "family" of sister clubs by signing a technology deal with cloud software provider SAP. The club's parent company City Football Group (CFG) claims the multi-year marketing and technology deal will transform how the group and its football teams perform "from the boardroom to the pitch." In addition to City, CFG has stakes in New York City FC in the USA, Melbourne City FC in Australia and Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has joined media and entertainment trade union Bectu in accepting ITV's pay and conditions offer after lengthy negotiations. Following industrial action taken in May, 97% of NUJ members voted to accept a pay rise of 2.2 percent for those earning under GBP60,000, to be implemented in 2016. Furthermore, strikers agreed on an increase of the redundancy gap from GBP36,000 to GBP45,000 as of 1 September on top of keeping bonus levels at GBP1,500 for 2017.

Diageo is to appeal an advertising ban for its Smirnoff drinks brand after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it implied the success of a social occasion was dependent on alcohol. The ad, created by 72andSunny, depicted people standing in a bar looking unfriendly, and was shot as if the camera were a person walking among them and through the bar. The scene then shifted, and a bartender poured vodka and a mixer into a glass and music started to play and the atmosphere became brighter.

Primesight has emerged as the preferred bidder for regional media specialist Eye Airports, which has outdoor contracts for London Gatwick and Manchester airports, in a deal estimated at GBP3 million. Primesight has confirmed it is in the process of doing due diligence on the deal, which is believed to involve several third-party contracts, not least with the airports themselves. Eye Airports claims to have a national network reach of more than 100 million passengers a year.

"The New York Times" is setting up a dedicated creative team for its "paid posts" in London in a bid to attract more international clients. The new international branch of the US newspaper's T Brand Studios unit will launch next month with four staff, led by Kaylee King-Balentine, who currently oversees the studio's video operations. They will be supported by T Brand staff in New York, but will handle client relations and editorial decisions.