Publicis Groupe South Asia has declared Amitesh Rao as the new chief executive officer of Leo Burnett South Asia. Rao's responsibilities in this capacity encompass overseeing all operations of Leo Burnett India, which includes Leo Burnett Orchard, across various locations such as Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Chennai, and other parts of South Asia, as specified by the company. Additionally, he will be involved in providing supervision for Publicis Health and Publicis Business.
Rao will be reporting to Anupriya Acharya, the CEO of Publicis Groupe South Asia, and collaborating closely with Rajdeepak Das, the Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe India and Chairman of Leo Burnett South Asia, as mentioned by the announcement. With a background encompassing diverse leadership roles and an extensive track record in client businesses across technology, data, and creativity, Rao has been selected to lead Leo Burnett South Asia into its next phase of growth and creative endeavors, as highlighted by the company.
An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, Rao brings over 25 years of leadership experience spanning advertising, marketing, and technology entrepreneurship within gaming and simulation. He joins Leo Burnett from McCann India, where he served as the Executive Director, overseeing North and West Operations. Previously, Rao held significant positions at TBWA, Rediffusion, and JWT, where he worked across various markets with renowned clients like PepsiCo, Airtel, Nestlé, Reckitt, Coke, Mastercard, and Nissan. His expertise in marketing and sales also includes roles within the Telco and Data sectors with MTS and RPG.