Virat Tandon returns to India as CEO of Mullen Lintas

Mullen Lowe Lintas Group has named Virat Tandon CEO and Shriram Iyer NCD of its new creative agency Mullen Lintas which launches on 1 August.  

 

Virat Tandon returns to India after a three-year stint with Mullen Lowe Group in Singapore where he was global business director for Unilever brands Lifebuoy and Fair & Lovely. Tandon joined Lowe Lintas at its New Delhi office in 2004.

 

Shriram Iyer, ECD, head of Lowe Lintas' Delhi office, has been appointed NCD of Mullen Lintas. 

 

The announcements were made by the agency in a statement issued 28 July 2015. 

 

This follows a 21 June announcement on Amer Jaleel, NCD, Lowe Lintas, being appointed chairman and CCO of the new entity. Linen Lintas and Karishma Lintas have been merged into Mullen Lintas, a second agency created following the merger of IPG agencies Mullen, and Lowe and Partners, globally.  

 

Mullen Lintas will be headquartered in Mumbai with offices in New Delhi (NCR) and Bengaluru, and will be part of the Mullen Lowe Lintas Group alongside Lowe Lintas. 

 

Joseph George, CEO, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group, said, “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.”

 

Tandon added, “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.”

 

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’.”

  

Jaleel added, “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.”