Publicis Groupe India subsidiary Leo Burnett India has announced Rajeev Rakshit’s appointment as executive director of Leo Burnett, Banglore. Rajeev is tasked with leading the agency to the next level in terms of talent, growth, client relationships, and solutions. He will report to Amitesh Rao, CEO, Leo Burnett – South Asia. The agency’s solid relationships with clients based in Bengaluru, such as Ikea, RedBus, Kingfisher, Heineken, Lenovo, Acko, and Flipkart, to mention a few, have contributed to the appointment.
At Leo Burnett, Rajeev brings with him more than 25 years of practical experience in Upstream Marketing, Digital Strategy, Account Management, General Management, and Business Head (Country & Region). His most recent position was as managing partner and group CEO of Thinking Folks. It is a stand-alone provider of upstream marketing and advertising solutions. Throughout his career, Rajeev has held positions at Publicis Groupe’s L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, and Publicis.
As president of L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, he was responsible for advancing growth for the company’s top and bottom lines. The particular emphasis was on new business. As a member of the Management and Executive Committee, he was responsible for actively leading and expanding business opportunities for the agency’s Digital and Engagement arm in the northern markets.
He has also held positions at McCann Erickson India, Saregama (RPG Group), Everest Brand Solutions, and JWT/WPP (Global Team Ford), where he served as managing partner and head of GFT, an integrated agency formed exclusively for Ford.
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Amitesh Rao, CEO, Leo Burnett – South Asia said,
“Leo Burnett is a formidable creative force in Bengaluru with great momentum, energy and ambition, working with some incredible brands, and lucky to have some of the most talented people onboard. Rajeev comes with a distinctive blend of a future facing orientation, maturity and deep industry knowledge, and we are delighted to have him join us in building on the foundation of our Bengaluru operation to take it to greater heights.”
Rajdeepak Das, chief creative officer – Publicis Groupe, South Asia and Chairman – Leo Burnett, South Asia commented,
“The Bangalore team energy is infectious and we currently work with some of the best clients of India from there. We already have Pravin Sutar leading the creative mandate from Bangalore and together with Rajeev who comes with solid hands -on experience, and we are confident of building meaningful solutions for our client partners.”
Speaking about his appointment, Rajeev Rakshit, executive director, Leo Burnett Bangalore, remarked,
“Having had a substantive stint with Leo Burnett in the past, it feels like coming home. The agency’s inspired creativity, portfolio of iconic brands and numerous client success stories has resulted in its staggering momentum and I am excited to be a part of this journey. I have always admired Leo Burnett’s ability to reimagine and redefine industry norms and look forward to collaborating and contributing to propel the agency towards its next significant milestone.”
