IIM Nagpur Inks MoU with MullenLowe Lintas, sets up Centre of Excellence in Brand Management
The Indian Institute of Management Nagpur (IIMN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with leading advertising and marketing communications company MullenLowe Lintas, on Monday. The MoU marks the establishment of the Centre of Excellence in Brand Management at IIM Nagpur.
The online signing ceremony was attended by IIMN faculty, students and Lintas group management, and hosted by Prof. Rahul Kumar Sett. Referring to the work of renowned painter Padma Bhushan Jamini Roy, Prof. Sett elaborated upon the significance of creating a unique identity through art, which acts as a medium for storytelling and audience engagement. He explained how businesses seek to achieve the same through brand management, and that the Centre for Excellence would explore pertinent questions around this concept, in collaboration with the Lintas group.
IIMN Director Prof. Bhimaraya Metri expressed his pleasure at the collaboration that will enable the creation of shared value for both the signatories. He mentioned that the collaboration would focus primarily on joint research, advisory services and organization of events centred around brand management. The MoU was signed by Prof Metri, and Mr Subramanyeswar S, Group Chief Strategy Officer at MullenLowe Lintas.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr Subramanyeswar related that a strong interaction with academia is encouraged at MullenLowe Lintas, and that it is imperative for the firm to evolve in the domains of branding and communication by creating and sharing knowledge with B-schools. He thanked the administration at IIMN for expediting the creation of the Centre of Excellence and expressed his optimism for the opportunities that the collaboration would open up.
Mr Amer Jaleel (Chairman, Chief Creative Officer, MullenLowe Lintas), shared his eagerness to learn from an academic institution such as IIMN, explaining that an academic perspective could help channelize consumer insights and aid strategy design for the organization. His sentiment was echoed by attending dignitaries from Mullen Lowe Lintas –Mr. Virat Tandon (Group Chief Executive Officer), Mr. Vivek Kamath (Group Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer), and Mrs. Heather Gupta (Group HR Director), who were positive that the collaboration would bring in fresh insights from young minds at IIM Nagpur and offer value to all stakeholders, as well as society at large.
Faculty members from IIMN looked forward to the engagement as an opportunity for making strides in research while benefitting from the rich experience of a firm as seasoned as Lintas. Prof Gaurav Singh Chauhan stated that IIMN will be able to support key initiatives of the firm with academic rigour. Prof. Prakash Awasthy and Prof. Atul Arun Pathak hailed the collaboration as mutually enriching, and congratulated the attendees on the occasion.