Publicis Groupe South Asia Appoints Amitesh Rao as CEO, Leo Burnett South Asia
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.
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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.
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Publicis Names Rajdeepak Das as South Asia CCO; Chairman, Leo Burnett South Asia
Publics Groupe has promoted Rajdeepak Das to Chief Creative Officer, at Publicis Groupe South Asia, and Chairman of Leo Burnett, South Asia. Das’s appointment demonstrates the Groupe’s emphasis and dedication to world-class, inspirational creativity that develops brands through contemporary, purpose-driven work.
Focus on transforming client businesses
Das will concentrate on advancing the Groupe’s creative agenda in these newly established roles by utilizing the alchemy of technology and data to transform client businesses. To support these directives, he will collaborate closely with the Groupe’s creative, data, and technology talent.
Das’s leadership experience
Das is a superb creative leader with more than 20 years of successful brand development experience. Leo Burnett India has produced performances both domestically and internationally under his direction. The agency has won the Asia-Pacific Creative Agency of the Year at Spikes Asia 2023, the Most Awarded Indian Agency at the Cannes Lions 2023, The One Show 2023, Adfest 2023, and D&AD 2023 under his leadership. He is the recipient of over 100 international awards. Being a strong advocate of the ability of modern creativity to change people’s lives and an early adopter of cutting-edge concepts and technologies, some of his most notable campaigns have been wildly successful. These include “SmartFarms” for PepsiCo, “Say It With Oreo” for Mondelez, and “PumaDive” for PUMA.
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Here’s what they said
Anupriya Acharya, South Asia CEO, Publicis Groupe said,
I have really enjoyed working with Raj as his ideas and creativity continue to fuel both business impact and accolades. His quest for world-changing brand ideas is truly remarkable. His scintillating, sustained performance, ability to transform agency culture and reputation, as well as the width of the work that captures innovation, business transformation, data and sustainability, make him an ideal choice. We hope to leverage these strengths on a larger Groupe canvas.
Rajdeepak Das added,
I am super-delighted to get such a large canvas! With the breadth of capabilities at the Groupe level, a repertoire of finest clients and brilliant diverse talent, the opportunities are limitless. It’s been a truly exhilarating ride for me so far, and the new mandate (s) make it even more exciting. I look forward to redefining creativity and driving brand impact, as also positively shaping communities through powerful, progressive work.
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