MullenLowe Lintas Group
 | This article contains promotional content. (January 2017) |
 | |
| Industry | Marketing communications |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | Mumbai, Gurgaon/New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad |
Area served | South Asia, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Global |
Key people | Vivek Kamath, Group COO & CFO |
| Services | Advertising and Marketing Communications, Digital Solutions, Identity and Graphic Design, Public Relations, Full-service, Media |
Number of employees | 900+ |
| Parent | MullenLowe Group |
| Divisions | Lowe Lintas, Mullen Lintas, and PointNine Lintas |
| Website | MullenLowe Lintas Group |
MullenLowe Lintas Group (formerly Lintas) is an Indian advertising marketing communications company. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Interpublic Group (IPG), and is part of the multinational MullenLowe group.
As of May 2018, MullenLowe Lintas India employs nearly 1000 people in 14 offices located in eight Indian cities.[1]
History
Lintas (India) company began operating in Mumbai, India in 1969 as the Indian division of the advertising wing of Lever brothers (Lintas beign an acronym for Lever International Advertising Services). It worked as a subsidiary of Lintas international which was established in 1899 and was later made a part of Unilever.[2] During this period, the agency made many popular advertising campaigns under its director Alyque Padamsee. The agency was training grounds for a number of subsequently succefful personalities in the Indian advertising scene.[3] Upto the 1980s, Lintas, daCunha, HTA (Hindustan Thomson associates), Purnima advertising, Mudra communications, Trikaya Grey and O&M (Ogilvy and Mather) were among the largest advertising companies in India.[4]
Take over by the Lowe group
In 2000, the company changed its name to Lowe Lintas following the global merger of IPG networks, Ammirati Puris Lintas and the Lowe Group in November 1999. MullenLowe Lintas Group was then helmed by Prem Mehta, with Executive Creative Directors R. Balakrishnan (Balki) and K. M. Sridhar leading the creative function. At the time, with billings of over $11 billion, MullenLowe Group was ranked as the fourth-largest global agency group worldwide, with offices in 80 countries, while MullenLowe Lintas Group was the second-largest advertising agency in India,[5][6] with a turnover of Rs. 750 crores.[7] In 2007, Lintas India sold the 51% stake it owned in MullenLowe Lintas Group to its international partner, the Interpublic Group (IPG). Since then, the agency has been a part of MullenLowe Group, which in turn is held by the Interpublic Group.[8] MullenLowe Lintas Group has produced India's first television commercial, and also introduced the discipline of Channel Planning to India. It has introduced Shyam Benegal, Gerson da Cunha, Rama Bijapurkar, Gautam Rajadhyaksha and Alyque Padamsee. R. Balki, former Group Chairman, quit advertising and retired from the group in the month of August 2016. In addition to Lowe Lintas, the group started two new agencies - Mullen Lintas - a challenger agency, in August 2015, and PointNine Lintas - a full-service agency, in August 2017.
In May 2015 the multinational company Lowe Worldwide merged with Mullen, a US based agency to form the MullenLowe Group, which in turn became part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. Headquartered out of London, Lowe Worldwide has over 100 offices in 82 countries. As per its website, MullenLowe Lintas Group offers advertising, digital, public relations, strategic design, rural marketing, and video content. Geoff Cottrill is currently the president of American operations.
References
- ^ "About us". Mullenlowe Lintas India official website. Mullenlowe Lintas. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ O'Barr, William. "Advertising in India". Advertising and society review (volume 3). Project muse. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ Padamsee, Alyque (22 April 2002). "In residence". Outlook India. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ "70 years of Indian advertising". Live Mint. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ Elliott, Stuart (November 1, 1999). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; This time it's Interpublic doing an internal merger to add another giant to Madison Avenue". New York Times.
- ^ "Lowe Lintas restructures". Indian Express. July 19, 2000.
- ^ "Lintas India merges with Lowe". Business Line. July 19, 2000.
- ^ "Lintas India to offload 51% to Interpublic". The Economic Times. 9 May 2007.