The wheels were set in motion a few months ago when LinTeractive – fresh from its re-launch exercise – had made its intent clear about mainlining itself as an agency for the digitized world. With a few high-profile business wins and brand successes to its credit, the fast-growing digital division of Lowe Lintas + Partners has taken another major step as it named its leadership team in India.
The three-member leadership team comprising of a business, strategy and creative head each, will drive the digital business for the group and will be supported by the IPG agency Interactive Avenues as its fulfillment partner. The trio includes Paul Dueman, who’s been with the agency for some time now, and features two new additions – Gauri Joshi and Sumanta Ganguly. The leadership team will report to Vikas Mehta – CMO, Lowe Lintas + Partners and Country Head, LinTeractive.
Announcing the leadership team, Mehta said, “Just a few months ago, LinTeractive was merely a plan on paper. We set out to build a digital agency that was different on two counts. First, we see ourselves as not just a digital agency, but an ‘agency for the digitized world’. And second, our belief that ideas are at their best, when they work seamlessly ‘on and offline’. Paul has been an excellent partner in driving this approach and we’ve seen great traction among clients. Both Sumanta and Gauri are exciting additions to the team bringing in serious depth on domain expertise. I am confident that this leadership-trio will step up the gas and further fuel the momentum we’re seeing with LinTeractive.”
Paul Dueman has been named Head of strategic and engagement planning. His career spans over 18 years with 14 of them, spent in digital marketing and technology development. He has been a part of Lowe Lintas + Partners for nearly 5 years in two stints. Sharing his thoughts on the leadership role, Dueman said: “It continues to be a rewarding experience for me at LinTeractive. The go to market support of Interactive Avenues gives us a bigger canvas to shape our ideas and deliver far more value. Additionally, the synergized working with teams across the board internally – from PR, to Healthcare, Activation and Advertising makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. It’s a digital glut-fest at Lowe Lintas + Partners and I’m definitely not on a diet.”
The two new appointments include Sumanta Ganguly, who joins LinTeractive as Senior Vice President and will be taking on the role of business head. Ganguly’s responsibility would include partnering clients to craft out ‘digital first’ communication strategies and creating a digital roadmap for some of the top brands in the country.
Sharing his views on joining the agency, Ganguly said, “I am excited to join an agency that has a ‘seat at the table’ with some of the largest brands in the country. Coupled with creative, planning & content capabilities it is a potent mix to build great partnerships with brands who want to lead in today’s social and digital service offering.”
Joining Dueman and Ganguly in the trio would be Gauri Joshi who joins LinTeractive after being a Hungama old-timer. As Unit Creative Director, Joshi will be heading LinTeractive’s creative function providing digitally driven creative solutions.
Adding her views, Gauri Joshi said, “I am delighted to be a part of the team at LinTeractive. As a group, Lowe Lintas + Partners has etched out a truly robust and integrated vision for LinTeractive, which I believe is the best way forward for brands as well as digital on the whole.”
Sumanta Ganguly started out in the digital media business and was involved in setting up and managing dotcom start-ups as ciol.com and ZDNetIndia.com in the early part of his career. With over 15 years in the business, Ganguly’s expertise lies in the areas of direct & loyalty marketing, digital marketing and web data analytics. Prior to joining LinTeractive, Ganguly has worked at M&C Saatchi, RMG Connect-JWT & OgilvyOne driving digital planning and management functions. He has handled brands like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Arrow, Britannia NutriChoice, Hutch, Cisco, Legrand, FutureBazaar.com and Castrol to name a few.
A digital native, Gauri Joshi has over 11 years of experience in digital design and marketing. Previous to Lowe Lintas, she worked at Hungama Digital Services as a Creative Group Head and also headed the ideation cell of the business. She has worked on brands like Disney, Mahindra, Vaseline, ACC, CEAT creating digital products like websites, games, apps and executing digital campaigns.