Publicis Groupe South Asia Appoints Amitesh Rao As Ceo Leo Burnett South Asia

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Amitesh Rao has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Leo Burnett South Asia by Publicis Groupe South Asia. Rao takes over for Dheeraj Sinha, who left the agency to work for FCB last year. As part of his role, Rao will oversee all Leo Burnett India operations. It will include Leo Burnett Orchard, in Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Chennai, and the rest of South Asia. Furthermore, he will oversee Publicis Business and Publicis Health.

Role and reporting within the agency

Working closely with Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe India, and Chairman, Leo Burnett South Asia, the role will report to Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia. Rao has been carefully chosen to guide Leo Burnett South Asia into its next phase of growth and creative aspirations because of his multidisciplinary and multicategory experience from a variety of leadership roles, impressive track record on client business, and abundance of knowledge across technology, data, and creativity.

Amitesh Rao’s leadership experience

Rao, an IIM Bangalore alumnus, has over 25 years of leadership experience in marketing, advertising, and technology entrepreneurship in the gaming and simulation industries. He comes from McCann India, where he oversaw operations in the North and West as Executive Director. Rao previously held executive roles at TBWA, Rediffusion, and JWT. During his time in advertising, he worked across markets for well-known brands. These included PepsiCo, Airtel, Nestle, Reckitt, Coke, Mastercard, and Nissan. He has worked with MTS and RPG in the telco and data sectors, handling marketing and sales.

Here’s what they said

Anupriya Acharya, CEO, of Publicis Groupe South Asia said,

I am delighted to welcome Amitesh Rao. We are in an age of constant invention and re-invention and in Amitesh, we found the perfect leader who brings both a thorough appreciation of the power of creativity in building strong brands and an intimate understanding and fluency in diverse languages of technology, gaming, data, and platforms. His easy demeanour and candid attitude are an added asset for clients, our teams and our Groupe’s Power of One agenda. I look forward to working with him.

Amitesh Rao added,

I look forward to leading Leo Burnett South Asia in an era where the confluence of technology and creativity is redefining the playing field. With its outstanding creativity and top accolades, a remarkable roster of blue-chip clients and an amazing talent pool, the agency offers an incredible canvas. I hope to bring new perspective on client businesses, strengthen seamless solutions and look forward to accelerating growth for Leo Burnett and its clients.

Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe India and Chairman, Leo Burnett South Asia commented,

Having built Leo Burnett South Asia over the last 10 years and making it synonymous with iconic, inspiring creativity that transforms brands and businesses, I am delighted to find in Amitesh a leader who resonates with LB’s ethos and brings with him strong and diverse experience that can take Leo Burnett South Asia to the next level of success and build on the agency’s stellar offerings. We all look forward to partnering him.

Author Profile

Netra: Netra is a Dual Masters graduate in International Business and Marketing. She is a content-writing enthusiast and a social media addict. In her downtime, you will find her headbanging to Pop songs from around the world. She is also a sports fanatic and especially loves F1, Volleyball, and Cricket. Her hobbies are baking and watching Anime.