Mullen Lintas ropes in Virat Tandon as CEO; Shriram Iyer named NCD

Mullen Lintas officially launches on August 1. Tandon returns to India after a three-year stint with Mullen Lowe Group in Singapore; Iyer is currently ECD and Creative Head for the Delhi offices of Lowe Lintas

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | July 28, 2015

(L-R) Shriram Iyer, Amer Jaleel & Virat Tandon

Following the recent announcement regarding the launch of the new creative agency Mullen Lintas, Lowe Lintas Group today unveiled more details about the new agency, which officially launches on August 1, 2015.

Virat Tandon has been appointed as CEO of Mullen Lintas. He returns to India after a three-year stint with Mullen Lowe Group in Singapore, where he was Global Business Director for the Unilever brands Lifebuoy and Fair & Lovely.

Also joining the Mullen Lintas leadership team is Shriram Iyer, who takes on the role of National Creative Director.

As reported earlier, Amer Jaleel is the Chairman and CCO of Mullen Lintas. 

Mullen Lintas will be headquartered in Mumbai with offices in New Delhi (NCR) and Bangalore. Joseph George, Group CEO, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group, remarked, “India has birthed several big brands over the last two decades. However, for a long time, the top agency brands have remained largely unchanged. Mullen Lintas is a product of the evolving marketing landscape, and with our 'big agency' ambition, we intend to partner brands whose ambitions are driven by a passionate pursuit of leadership by presenting ourselves as a compelling challenger to the likes of Lowe Lintas, Ogilvy and JWT.”

A part of the network for over a decade, Virat Tandon first joined Lowe Lintas at its New Delhi office in 2004 and has undertaken numerous senior and leadership roles in the agency over that time. A Unilever veteran of over 10 brands and 60+ countries, he has worked in India on clients, including Maruti Suzuki, Nestle, Dominos, Sony Audio, Dabur, NIIT, ITC, GSK, Holiday Inn and AT&T and previously ran Lowe's healthcare agency in India, LinHealth. Prior to joining Lowe Lintas, he worked with WPP agencies Rediffusion, Grey and Contract. Over the past few years, he has been the business partner to Amer Jaleel for global duties of Unilever brand Lifebuoy. Together, they have led Lifebuoy to its place of global leadership including the iconic initiative, HelpAChildReach5, for which the brand received recognition around the world at effectiveness as well creative awards.

Speaking of the new agency, Tandon said, “Mullen Lintas is born ahead of the curve and intends to remain a mash-up of the enduring and the emerging. Our founding team has the pedigree and the class of massive brand-successes under their belt. Big agencies are today, dealing with the new marketing landscape and adapting their offerings to it. Our advantage is that Mullen Lintas has no such baggage and that allows us to leap-frog this need to change and adapt. We understand that a great brand needs a great narrative that flows seamlessly through screens, experiences, shopping environments and conversations. We will equip ourselves to play a pivotal role for our brands.”

Currently ECD and Creative Head for the Delhi offices of Lowe Lintas, Shriram Iyer moves to Mumbai in this new role. He has been with the group since 1998 and played various roles in the creative team at Lowe Lintas' Mumbai and Delhi offices. In his recent role, Iyer has been instrumental in the success of clients such as Google, Micromax, OLX, Hero Motors, Havells and Maruti Suzuki, among others. Some of his recent campaigns include #SellPhone, 'no chipkoing' and 'Let what you love LIVE' for OLX; Hawa Badlegi for Havells Fans; and Micromax Canvas and Sliver, both featuring Hugh Jackman.

On his new role, Iyer said, “A great ambition for the agency and a wonderful team to work with, I am excited about what we can create. Our approach to enriching our capabilities is what we call 'core plus one'. While we continue to practice our core skill sets, we will commit ourselves to adding people who bring with them a +1 skill or area of expertise. We believe this is critical and makes us 'present ready'.”

Amer Jaleel, Chairman and CCO, Mullen Lintas, summed it up by saying, “Virat has been a great business partner to me in managing the global mandate on Lifebuoy, and Shriram has been a driving force behind what Lowe Lintas Delhi has achieved in the past few years. I thoroughly enjoy working with both of them and couldn't have asked for better friends to the start the Mullen Lintas journey with.”

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