Lynn de Souza, chairman and chief executive officer, Lintas Media Group, has decided to quit and will leave IPG Mediabrands at the end of November. She has announced her intentions to get into the social entrepreneurship space.
IPG Mediabrands has announced that Shashi Sinha, chief executive officer, Lodestar UM, will be the chief executive officer of IPG Mediabrands India. Sinha will take on this new mandate in addition to his role as the Lodestar UM head.
On the development, the Group said, "This both represents the commitment IPG Mediabrands has made to the Indian market, and recognizes that Shashi, an IPG veteran of over 20 years, has contributed greatly to that growth. He has rapidly expanded and developed Lodestar UM over the past six years, led the way for the foundation of many new offerings in the market, and has remained actively engaged in various industry forums."
"IPG is thankful for Lynn de Souza's long years of service during which she built a formidable media reputation for the group and contributed to the founding, among other things, the IPG Women's Leadership Network. We wish Lynn all the success for the future," the company added.
IPG Mediabrands arrived in India earlier this year bringing together its three media agencies - Lodestar UM, Initiative and BPN. It also has a JV with an independent digital agency, Interactive Avenues called Reprise. Magna Intelligence was also launched by the group to further improve buying capabilities. In its next growth phase, the group will launch IPG Mediabrands Analytics, and will have renewed focus and energy on the IPG Mediabrands outdoor business. Initiative, BPN, Reprise and the Outdoor company will all report to Sinha, in addition to his existing charge at Lodestar UM.
