Mullen Lowe names Joseph George to head South and Southeast Asia

In the newly created position, he will report to Alex Leikikh, global CEO, Mullen Lowe Group.

George will be in charge of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. His full dual title is group CEO of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group, India, and regional president of Mullen Lowe Group, South and Southeast Asia.

The network parted ways with Asia-Pacific president Rupen Desai in late September.

On the appointment, Leikikh said, “Joe is exactly the leader we need as part of our hugely dynamic Asia operation – he is a seasoned professional with a proven track record of growth. A key component of his role will focus on tapping into the resources of the robust India operation that he has built up in order to develop our hyper-bundled offering across the South East Asia markets.”

George added, “I’m absolutely thrilled by the challenge of taking on an additional leadership role within the Apac region for the Mullen Lowe Group. Having worked within the network for over two decades, I clearly love the spirit: distinctive, entrepreneurial, collaborative and creative.”

George has been with the Lowe network for 24 years. He joined Lintas Mumbai in 1991 and spent the next 15 years between the Mumbai and Bengaluru offices. He took over as the head of the Unilever business in 2006, and successfully led the growth of that business and specialist marketing services divisions until his appointment as deputy CEO in June 2010, and subsequently as CEO in January 2011.

The agency claims that Mullen Lowe Lintas India has had three successive years of high double-digit profit growth.

George said, “We re-focused our creative product to make it the centre of everything we do. We got a lot more strategic and aggressive in our new business pursuit and we were relentless in our obsession with delivering disproportionate RoI to our clients. These three pillars have been the key to our success both financially as well as in attracting and retaining the best clients and talent available in the industry.”