MullenLowe Lintas Group forays into content and entertainment business under the Lintas C:EX brand

• MullenLowe Lintas Group forays into content and entertainment business.
• The agency group has also appointed Media and Entertainment maven Yogesh Manwani as President to lead the business.

MullenLowe Lintas Group has unveiled a specialized content business unit under the Lintas C:EX (Lintas Creative Executions) brand. The unit called Lintas C:EX Entertainment will create Content & IP that entertains and engages. It has ambitions to develop, create, produce and distribute distinct forms of curated and original content cutting across genres, languages and formats. Not only will the unit create original content for various streaming platforms, it will also work with brand partners to create and distribute ‘content for & by brands’. Lintas C:EX Entertainment will also help brands identify and participate in relevant content-led marketing opportunities.

India has witnessed tectonic shifts in the areas of digital adoption. The pandemic has had a somewhat permanent impact on the way content and entertainment is consumed. The Media and Entertainment industry in India is expected to grow to USD 55 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of about 10%. Additionally, Indians are becoming data guzzlers, with data consumption growing from just 700 mb a month to over 11 GB - with content and entertainment getting the largest share of the pie.

To lead the Entertainment business unit at Lintas C:EX, Yogesh Manwani, a seasoned M&E specialist has been appointed as President. Manwani comes with a rich and diversified experience of over 2 decades across different facets of the Media & Entertainment business having worked in organizations such as Star, ZEE5, and most recently, Applause Entertainment as Head Revenue & Marketing. He was involved in multiple premium drama series like Scam 1992, Criminal Justice, Hostages, Undekhi, Avrodh, Mind The Malhotras, Bhaukaal, Chakravyuh and Call My Agent to name a few.

Speaking about the formation of the new business building block and the leadership announcement, Virat Tandon – Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group said: “We are seeing a huge surge of digital content, platforms, creators as well as viewers and this space is only going to grow in the coming years. Lintas is uniquely poised at the intersection of powerful ideas that shape pop culture, master creative storytelling, extraordinary video production ability and ambitious brands and clients. Lintas C:EX Entertainment is the logical next step for us to unlock the huge potential that lies ahead of us. In the past, we’ve had a few tactical brushes with this space. The memorable ones were when Alyque was involved with producing the pilot for “Karamchand” and then later when we conceptualised the show “Smart Shrimati” for brand Wheel. This time, Lintas C:EX Entertainment is a deliberate and a strategic foray into original and branded content space. There couldn’t be a better person than Yogesh Manwani to lead this venture. He comes with a deep experience in the original content business. He is a big believer in our vision for Lintas C:EX Entertainment and I am sure he will make it a success.”

Speaking about the unveiling of Lintas C:EX Entertainment, Amer Jaleel – Group CCO & Chairman, MullenLowe Lintas Group said: “We are breaking the shackles of the ad agency descriptor that we had imposed on ourselves. There has been such an abundance of talent that has sprung from Lintas and gone on into the world of entertainment, I have no clue why we did not give it the shot it deserved up until now! With Yogesh at the helm of this completely separate and independent initiative, we are opportunising the era of original content and content for brands, that’s landed smack in our lives! Yogesh will spearhead, shape and structure Lintas C:EX Entertainment into possibly an equal or bigger rival to our brand and marcomm business. He has both the relationships and the experience in building channels, platforms, intellectual properties which will now propel the Lintas group into a full-blown media and entertainment powerhouse.”

In his previous roles, Manwani has managed responsibilities across various content genres - Hindi News, Regional News, Regional Entertainment, Hindi Entertainment & English Entertainment – across mediums such as TV and digital. He has handled varied challenges like business launches and turn arounds, brand strategy, customer acquisition & retention, market development and affiliate marketing. In his role as President at Lintas C:EX Entertainment, Yogesh will work with Naveen Gaur, who is responsible for the new and specialised lines of business at MullenLowe Lintas Group.

Reacting to his appointment, Yogesh Manwani said: “MullenLowe Lintas Group enjoys a strong reputation of building and successfully transforming many popular and strong brands across various categories thanks to its ability of understanding, forecasting and leveraging consumer behaviour. Backed by strong, fearless and visionary leadership, the Group is on a critical self-transformational journey. Entering the Content business is an integral and important part of this journey and with acceleration of the creator economy it could not have been better timed. The long term vision that Group’s leadership has for this independent and specialised business under the Lintas C:EX brand is what excites me to lead this mandate. I look forward to bringing my experience and learnings to the table that could help in building this content company as the magic glue that binds content creators with brand owners & platform partners.”

A UCLA Anderson alumnus, Manwani has shouldered responsibilities of multiple aspects of the Media & Entertainment business like Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Content Strategy, Content Marketing, Development, Acquisition, Licensing & Monetisation. Manwani’s appointment is with immediate effect and will operate from the Mumbai HQ of MullenLowe Lintas Group.