MAM
MullenLowe Lintas elevates Naveen Gaur as Group COO, growth & innovation
Mumbai: In view of the ever-changing marketing landscape, MullenLowe Lintas Group plans to further consolidate its offering beyond strategy and creative. To this end, Naveen Gaur has been elevated as Group COO – growth and innovation, MullenLowe Lintas Group.
Gaur’s mandate will be to strengthen the areas of marketing services that agencies within the Group offer – such as PR, digital, content creation and production, experiential, design, analytics, and MarTech. In addition to this, Gaur will also lead the marketing, reputation, and strategic growth initiatives for the Group.
In his previous role as the deputy CEO of Lowe Lintas, he was overseeing the existing key business relationships and founding new ones. Gaur’s association with Lintas goes back to 2010 when he was branch head of Lowe Lintas Delhi where he encouraged an entrepreneurial culture of growth and business excellence. Under his leadership, the agency added large mandates that are a healthy mix of start-ups and established brands. He is also credited with deepening the agency’s relationship with Google, Pernod Ricard, Nestle, and Cargill foods.
MullenLowe Lintas Group – Group CCO and chairman, Amer Jaleel, who has worked closely with Gaur on marquee brands of the Group like Havells, Google and OLX amongst others, said: “I’ve worked with Naveen as a partner for over 10 eventful years. He stands firmly proud of owning the intersection on brand and business. And would be fearless in pointing out the lack of either in a piece of work he would be judging. And that shows his innate understanding of both. Naveen remains oddly unserious despite having seen through hundreds of crises. He switches seamlessly and this quality is what Lintas wants to capitalise on to ride into its most transformative phase ever. Naveen will help broaden the scope of what it means to be a brand in the new age.”
After leading Lowe Lintas into its next phase of growth as its deputy CEO, he will now be tasked with replicating the success for marketing services of the Group – Lintas Live, dCell, LinEngage, Lintas C:EX, and LinConsult. Naveen will aggressively grow these already strong suite of specialist services as well as develop new ones through an effective combination of build, acquire and collaborate.
Commenting on the elevation, MullenLowe Lintas Group- Group CEO, Virat Tandon said, “We are living in very exciting times as we see shifts in the entire marketing landscape. This presents us with a great opportunity to extend our services across the spectrum of creative solutions eco-system. Naveen is a stalwart in the advertising business and is an entrepreneur at heart. There can be no one better to lead the agencies in developing and growing this ecosystem. We will be looking at serving our existing clients better by using our ‘Hyperbundled’ creative solutions process to bring all the specialist services around the client goals. At the same time, this eco-system will also develop their own independent clients and growth agenda. I am very excited to see Naveen take up this role.”
Talking about the elevation, Naveen Gaur said, “Growth and value creation drive me. I am honored that the Group has entrusted me with this role and responsibility to make some bold moves and create future leading offerings and take the Group to the next level. I am looking forward to doing new things that will make me sleepless again.”
Gaur assumes the new role from 1 September and he will be handing over his current responsibilities over the next few months to the new leadership at Lowe Lintas which will be announced soon. This transition will be completed by the end of 2021, the organisation said.
MAM
Lego brings Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, Vinicius together
Campaign clocks 314 million views ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 buzz.
MUMBAI: Four legends, one frame and not a single tackle in sight. Lego has pulled off a crossover few thought possible, uniting Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior in a single campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 only this time, they’re building dreams brick by brick.
Titled “Everyone wants a piece”, the campaign features the quartet assembling a Lego version of the World Cup trophy, before placing miniature versions of themselves atop it, a playful nod to football’s ultimate prize. Shared widely across social media, the ad carries a pointed disclaimer: it is not AI-generated, a subtle but telling signal in an era where even reality is often questioned.
The numbers tell their own story. The campaign has already crossed 314 million views on Instagram across the players’ accounts, with fans hailing it as a rare, almost nostalgic moment particularly for the reunion of Messi and Ronaldo, whose last shared campaign ahead of the 2022 World Cup became one of the platform’s most-liked posts.
Beyond the film, Lego is extending the play with exclusive, player-themed sets tied to each of the four stars, part of a broader football-led programme designed to ride the global momentum building towards 2026. The idea, as echoed by the players themselves, leans into the parallels between football and play experimentation, creativity, failure, and triumph.
Messi described the sets as a way to bring on-pitch moments into an imaginative, hands-on world, while Ronaldo called the transformation into a Lego figure a rare honour, blending sport with storytelling. Vinícius, meanwhile, struck a more personal note, recalling childhood moments of building with Lego and framing creativity as a universal language that transcends borders.
The timing is no accident. With the 2026 World Cup set to run from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and featuring an expanded 48-team format, global anticipation is already building. Argentina, led by Messi, will enter as defending champions, adding another layer of intrigue.
For Lego, the campaign does more than celebrate football, it taps into its mythology. Because when icons become figurines and rivalries turn into play, the beautiful game finds a new kind of pitch. one built, quite literally, by hand.
