Lynn de Souza is Chairman and CEO Lintas Media Group

Lowe Worldwide confirmed today the promotion of Lynn de Souza to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lintas Media Group (LMG) from her current position as Director, Media Services, Lintas India.  She will continue to be based in Mumbai, and her new position is effective immediately.

“The Indian media arena is one of the most dynamic in the world.  Under Lynn’s leadership the LMG has been equipped to be at the forefront of the market to capitalize on the drivers of change and opportunities for innovation on behalf of LMG’s clients which rank amongst India’s largest advertisers.  Her professional pedigree, leadership role and industry standing fully warrants this recognition,” commented Stephen Gatfield, CEO of Lowe Worldwide and EVP of IPG, while making the announcement.  “The promotion is doubly important because it reflects the central role of Lintas India and its key talent in building our operations at Lowe and IPG in India and across Asia.”

De Souza currently oversees 7 specialised media divisions – Initiative Media, Insight, Interactions, Intellect, Digital Initiatives, Media Futures and Second Opinion, which provide media planning, buying and review services to both advertisers and media houses, as well as provide strategic consultancy based on proprietary tools and databases.   These units have recently been consolidated into the LMG.

"The media services industry in India is well on its way to maturity, and the opportunities before us, are endless. Dominance and control are giving way to mutually beneficial partnerships, collaborations, and the willingness and ability to achieve growth together rather than at the expense of another. LMG believes wholeheartedly that  collaboration with all entities that work for the overall success of the brand is necessary - be they clients, media owners, creative agencies, specialist communication agencies, the trade - and I believe that our internal reorganisation and refocus to make this happen will become very evident as we go along," says de Souza.

In a restructuring that de Souza believes results in “a more robust structure and leadership team”, Sudha Natrajan and NP Sathyamurthy have been appointed as joint presidents, heading specific client collectives and regional collectives. Premjeet Sodhi was appointed executive vice-president, LMG.

LMG had recently entered into a non-equity partnership with Pinstorm, an independent digital advertising firm.   “Our work with Pinstorm is to collaborate on clients to give performance-driven options initially across digital media - but we hope over time to grow the same basis to traditional media like Broadcast, Print and Outdoors too” says de Souza.