2008 has been a busy year for Lintas. As well as winning numerous new businesses, the agency adjusted to a new structure where it focussed on fortifying the Lintas Media brand and on the Collaboratives model.
It also adopted the pay-per-performance model with Pinstorm.
The new businesses that Lintas Media Group has won include Stovekraft, Wockhardt Hospitals, Asian Health and Nutri Foods, Jindal Stainless Steel, Dr Batra’s Homeopathy Clinic, Business Standard, Jyothy Laboratories, Manappuram Group, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Tata Capital. Businesses like Geodesic made way to the agency along with it partnership with Pinstorm. Some of the other new business wins were Orchid Hotels, Jockey, Allied Blenders, Luxor Parker, Allahabad and Delhi Police. In total, Lintas Media Group has added businesses worth Rs 380 crore to Rs 400 crore during the year.
While other agencies have lost businesses due to global alignments, Lintas Media Group managed to retain Sony Corp in India despite the shift of the business in other markets. Idea was also one of the few businesses from the Aditya Birla Group companies that did not move when ABG consolidated its businesses with Mindshare.
Lynn de Souza, Chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group, explained some of the reasons for this growth, “When we had branded ourselves Lintas Media Group, the two keywords for us were reach, as in awareness and touch. The philosophy was that we never grow at the expense of the others, but we grow with the others. Even if we are in a pitch, our approach has been that our fate lies in the client’s fate and that long-term attitude seems to work for us.”
de Souza believes that this the collaborative approach has worked for Lintas’ own clients, and even in relations with partners like Pinstorm, with whom the agency has won new businesses, and has planned various more initiatives in the coming year. The economic slowdown has had some impact on Lintas Media Group however: its clients in the financial sector have postponed their campaigns for the next year.
On 2009, de Souza said, “The first quarter of 2009 would be the tough part, but I do think that things would get better by then. However, 2008 has been one of our best years. We have done better than most others in competitive pitches, and even in client retention. Clearly, we have done a few things right in the year, and we hope to focus on this growth in the next year as well.”