Leo Burnett India elevates Rakesh Hinduja to COO, West

Leo Burnett has announced the promotion of Rakesh Hinduja to Chief Operating Officer, West. He will continue reporting to Dheeraj Sinha, Managing Director, India and Chief Strategy Officer, South Asia, and RajDeepak Das, Managing Director, India and Chief Creative Officer, South Asia. Hinduja has been leading Leo Burnett’s head office – Mumbai’s – operations as Executive Director and Branch Head. 

Speaking about the elevation, Dheeraj Sinha said, “Rakesh is the perfect role model for the new-age agency we are building. His leadership on all the three parameters of People, Product and Profit has been stellar. Under his watch, we have consistently seen spectacular work that has won our brands market-share, and glory at platforms such as Cannes Lions, Spikes and Effies. He has delivered high-quality growth for the Mumbai office, leading the teams to win a new business almost every two weeks. The momentum and buzz at Leo Burnett Mumbai are palpable. Rakesh has been an amazing team player, helping push the Publicis Groupe’s Power of One agenda. Leo Burnett Mumbai’s contribution to our services such as Prodigious has helped Prodigious to become the number one ‘agency production house’ in the country within a span of two years. More than anything else, Rakesh has a never-say-die attitude and he always plays the game with a sense of camaraderie that we really value at Leo Burnett.” 

In his new role, Hinduja will drive the Power of One agenda for Leo Burnett in the West. He will help build cross-platform solutions for the agency’s clients using its services in Entertainment (Publicis Entertainment), Content (Content Factory), Experiential (Arc Worldwide), Production (Prodigious), Digital (Indigo Consulting and Digitas) and Media (Zenith Optimedia, Ecosys and Beehive). He will lead all the functions of Leo Burnett Mumbai to build a high growth business. 

Commenting on Hinduja’s promotion, RajDeepak Das said, “Rakesh is always there, backing great creative work and making integrated thinking happen for our clients. He has been an essential part of the journey to get where we are today. This elevation is much-deserved and will take all of us to greater heights.” 

Talking about his promotion, Rakesh Hinduja said, “I am happy with my journey at Leo Burnett – a new-age, solution-providing ‘Wave 3’ agency. I’m proud of the brave work we have done and I am hungry for more. Hereon, there are a lot of exciting things to do and in quick time. I want to take a critical pause here to thank all our clients and the Burnetters for their belief in me.”