Dheeraj Sinha, chief executive, Leo Burnett South Asia and Chairman, BBH India has quit. The agencies are part of the Publicis Groupe.
Anupriya Acharya, South Asia CEO, of Publicis Groupe said, “Thanks to Dheeraj’s leadership, Leo Burnett India is one of the most dynamic agencies and at the very top today. It is a powerhouse of creativity, talent, and pathbreaking advertising that solves for clients’ biggest challenges and unlocks growth while BBH India has been refreshed and put on a firm growth trajectory. After seven years with the company, Dheeraj would like to embark on a new challenge. I thank him for his energy and contribution and wish him the very best in his future endeavours. He will be missed! We will build further on the solid foundation that has been put in place.”
Sinha said, “It’s been a dream run for me at the Publicis Groupe for the last 7 years. Together, we built Leo Burnett to be the No.1 agency in India and No.2 in Asia. I always dreamt of building a large, successful organisation where people came together do the best work of their lifetime. I think we got that feeling on our floors. We won more awards than we could celebrate, we won the biggest pitches, and served the best coffee in town. BBH, Publicis Business and Publicis Health reverbed with the same winning energy. In Raj, I found a partnership that’s forever. Thanks to Anupriya for all her support, my leadership team, all the client partners and everyone in the agencies who walked in everyday to be the best in the world, bar none! I leave with a heavy heart but great confidence that this transformation is forever. I’ll always be cheering for my people who turned me into a leader!”
Rajdeepak Das, chief creative officer and co-CEO, Leo Burnett, said, ” In partnership with Dheeraj, we have built iconic agency brands that stand for modern purposeful advertising and taken Leo Burnett to the top position. I have really enjoyed my time with Dheeraj who’s dynamic, enterprising, and full of ideas. I wish him nothing but the best for his future endeavours.And hope to build further on the success of our creative agency brands, continuing our new business momentum and carrying on our rich legacy of inspiring, uplifting, very human creative work.”
Sinha led five businesses for the Publicis Groupe in India and South Asia – Leo Burnett, Leo Burnett Orchard, BBH, Publicis Business and Publicis Health. Sinha had set the vision for Leo Burnett to be India’s No.1 new-age agency in 2018. By 2022, Leo Burnett had grown 40 percent in revenue over 2018 and almost 30 percent of its revenue came from new-age clients. In the last four years, Leo Burnett has transitioned from being a mid-tier agency to a top-tier agency.
During this period, Leo Burnett was named the Creative Agency of the Year at the One-Show Abby awards at GoaFest, won a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions for Whisper (P&G), a Gold Cannes Lion for effectiveness for Bajaj V, a Grand Prix at Spikes Asia for HDFC Bank and was awarded Leo Burnett’s Global Agency Office of the Year amongst 86 offices. Leo Burnett was one of the most awarded Indian agencies at APAC Effies 2020 and AdFest 2020. It has featured in Fast Company’s list of Top 20 World Changing Ideas, twice in a row.
Sinha is the author of two bestsellers on the Indian consumer market – India Reloaded, published by Westland in India and Palgrave, internationally. And Consumer India, which is published by John Wiley & Sons. He also hosts a podcast, Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha, where he discusses leadership, start-ups and brands in the new-age.