THE PEOPLE
ARVIND SHARMA, CHAIRMAN & CEO OF INDIA SUBCONTINENT, LEO BURNETT
LEO BURNETT
KV SRIDHAR, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, INDIA SUBCONTINENT
NITISH MUKHERJEE,MANAGING DIRECTOR
NITESH TIWARI,CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER- INDIA
NOSHIR LALA,FINANCE DIRECTOR
SAMIR GANGAHAR,EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & HEAD,LB DELHI
SAINATH SARABAN,EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
ORCHARD ADVERTISING
THOMAS XAVIER,CHAIRMAN & NCD
KAUSHIK MITRA,SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/BRAND PARTNER
HEMANT KUMAR SIVAN,EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
ANISH DARYANI,VICE PRESIDENT
BLACK PENCIL
SAMARJIT CHOUDHRY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SHWETA AHUJA, CREATIVE HEAD
INDIGO CONSULTING
VIKAS TANDON, MANAGING DIRECTOR
THE STORY
Leo Burnett was one of the most highly regarded admen of all time, even named by Time Magazine as one of the ‘100 Most Influential People’ of the 20th century.
Born in 1891, Burnett studied journalism at the University of Michigan in 1914, and then worked with a string of media companies and as a copy-writer. After a while, however, he decided if he was to amount to anything in the advertising business, we would need to strike out on his own, and in 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, he set up his own agency in Chicago, with only eight employees.
To brighten up the place, the receptionist set out a bowl of apples. When word got around Chicago that Leo Burnett was serving apples to his visitors, a newspaper columnist wise-cracked, “It won’t be long ‘til Leo Burnett is selling apples on the street corner instead of giving them away!”
However, he proved all his detractors wrong. After working on a number of small businesses, he won clients such as Kellogg’s, P&G, Allstate Insurance, Marlboro, Hallmark and a number of other brands that are still with the company.
THE GROWTH
Over time, Leo Burnett Company Inc, as it was called, grew to become the 10th largest advertising agency in the world, the eighth largest in the United States. Today, it is part of the major Publicis Groupe network, and has over 96 offices in 84 countries around the world.
India became a part of this network on July 6, 1992, when Chaitra, a midlevel advertising agency transformed itself into Chaitra Leo Burnett. Within a span of eight years, Chaitra was dropped and the wholly-owned Leo Burnett India was born.
THE PHILOSOPHY
Leo Burnett believed, “The work of an ad agency is to warmly and immediately humanize deals with human needs”. He stressed on the importance of understanding the people behind the consumers in order to create great, relevant advertising, leading to the company’s ‘Humankind Approach’.
According to it, understanding the people is the key to creating acts, not ads, that can impact their behaviour. Hence, the philosophy, “Creativity has the power to transform human behaviour.”
THE REACH
Leo Burnett India has offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, with close to 500 passionate brand-builders. Its divisions include: Full-service agencies: Leo Burnett, Orchard and Black Pencil; BTL & Activation: Arc; Digital Solutions: Indigo Consulting.
These agencies offer Advertising, Direct Marketing, CRM, Interactive Marketing, Promotional Marketing, Retail, Shopper Marketing and POP-related services.
THE BUZZ
Leo Burnett is one of the most awarded advertising agencies in India, with 17 metals at the Cannes Lions, nine at One Show, 29 at Adfest, 34 at the Ad Stars, 48 at the New York Festival and a whopping 191 at the Goafest Abbies. It has also won other international and national awards at platforms such as D&AD, Clio, London International Awards, Spikes Asia, Lotus Awards, Andys and Mirchi Kaan Awards.
Leo Burnett India has also been declared the ‘Global Agency of the Year’, across the company’s entire global network, twice.
