When Young & Rubicam vp, director of broadcast Doug Lowe first stepped into the commercial arena he was torn between producing and copywriting. Now, almost 20 years after his initiation into the business, he couldn’t be more satisfied with the path he chose.

‘I tried both and realized my strength wasn’t in coming up with the unique, original thought but was in taking someone else’s idea, making it happen, and contributing in my own way creatively at that point,’ says Lowe. ‘Also, I thought producing would be a lot more fun and get me out of the office more on a day-to-day basis.’

Lowe’s advertising career got started in the audiovisual studio at Vickers & Benson on a part-time basis while he was still a student at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto. Following graduation, he was brought on full time and soon became junior producer.

With some experience, and a lot of ambition, he moved over to Ogilvy & Mather and up the ranks to become a full-fledged producer. While at o&m, he was tracked down by Gary Gray, founder of Carder Gray Advertising, who made an offer he couldn’t refuse.

‘I think at any point in our careers it helps to have someone latch on to you, champion you and see something in you,’ says Lowe. ‘Terry O’Malley, and certainly Gary Gray, were the two major influences and mentors in my early career.’

In the mid-’80s, Carder Grey merged with DDB Needham and Lowe stayed put for seven years, then moved over to Saatchi & Saatchi. He left Saatchi after three years for a short-lived, six-week shot at freelancing before being scooped up by y&r.

Lowe says if a producer is doing a good job he or she shouldn’t be noticed, much like a referee at a sporting event.

‘They always say a referee has done a terrific job if at the end of the day you don’t really notice them, and to a certain extent I think that holds true with a producer,’ he says. ‘If the producer has done a job well and covered their bases, chances are you haven’t noticed them because things have gone so smoothly.’

Among his many career achievements, one holds a particular place of pride and satisfaction for Lowe: the Saatchi & Saatchi/Playback First Cut Awards for first-time directors, which he and Peter Rigby, former creative director at Saatchi, were instrumental in launching in 1996.