Alokananda Chakraborty
Media

Lintas' S Yesudas quits as head of Insight

S Yesudas, executive vice-president, Insight, the third media arm of the Lintas Group, has put in his papers, citing “personal reasons"

In a surprise development, S Yesudas, executive vice-president, Insight, the third media arm of the Lintas Group, has put in his papers. The decision to call it quits was taken on the evening of March 15, reveals Yesudas, although he refuses to dwell on the reasons for his sudden departure. "There were personal reasons involved," is all the veteran media professional, who has spent close to ten years with the group, proffered, when contacted by agencyfaqs!.

When contacted for her views on Yesudas' departure, Lynn De Souza, director, media services, Lintas India Ltd, expressed a lack of knowledge about his decision to quit. "I haven't received anything from him," she said, adding, "I will need to speak to him first before we can arrive on a decision as to who is to replace him."

Formerly with Initiative Media, the flagship media brand of the Lintas Group, Yesudas set up Insight at the start of this year, with the agency bagging the Rs 35-crore UTI AOR a month-and-a-half ago. Following the UTI gain, the agency looked well set to shake up the western India region with some ambitious new business plans. Unveiling his vision for the agency, Yesudas, in an earlier interview with agencyfaqs!, had emphasized on the need to be "true consultants to clients", as opposed to mere "media solutions providers".

In the same interview, Yesudas had added that, "Media specialists have the potential to be true consultants to clients, taking up the role of brand custodians." The targeted billing for the agency this year is Rs 400-500 crore, and though Yesudas maintains that he will stick around for a month at Insight, it is to be seen as to who takes the agency's agenda forward. © 2004 agencyfaqs!

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