Mumbai: The Leo Group has announced a two-agency structure in India, in the form of Leo Burnett India and Leo Burnett Orchard. Both agencies will serve as drivers for The Leo Group’s growth, one of the fastest growing communication powerhouses in the country.
Saurabh Varma, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Communications, India, says, “Both the agencies will have the same DNA and will work to further the core philosophy of Human Kind that is so distinct to The Leo Group. In the last three years, the Group has invested in assets like Indigo Consulting, Indigo iStrat, Leo Burnett Experience, and Greenhouse. These core offerings will be deployed by both agencies to create integrated solutions for their clients. Leo Burnett Orchard will also access MSL Group, Publicis Media and Sapient in India to offer transformative solutions to its clients.”
Leo Burnett Orchard has handpicked a dream team to match its ambitious vision for the agency.
Mahuya Chaturvedi has joined as the agency’s Chief Operating Officer. She is a seasoned advertising and marketing professional with 20 years of experience. In the past, she has led marketing mandates of various consumer product businesses and on the agency side, brand consulting agencies, media planning and analytics functions and advertising. She has worked on multiple brands like DeBeers, HUL brands, L’Oréal Consumer products, Trent, Jeep, ITC, and many more. Mahuya has built ROI models and predictive tools which has won her multiple awards. She will be based in Mumbai and will report to Saurabh Varma.
Rohitash Srivastava has been appointed as National Head of Strategy at Leo Burnett Orchard. He comes in from Sapient. Nitro, where he was the Strategy Planning Lead – North India. Rohitash will be based out of Bangalore.
Amod Dani has joined the agency as the Executive Creative Director, Mumbai. Amod is a multiple award-winning creative powerhouse with 10 years of solid creative know-how. He has worked across agencies like Sapient. Nitro and Publicis, and has spent over five years in Leo Burnett, during the course of his career.
Sharmine Panthaky will continue to be the Branch Head at Leo Burnett Orchard, Mumbai. Partnering her will be Amritraj Thakur, who has joined as the VicePresident – Brand Strategy, Mumbai. Amod will work closely with Sharmine and Amritraj to further the creative product from the west region.
Ganga Ganapathi, Branch Head, Leo Burnett Orchard, Bangalore will continue to work closely with Neel Roy and Vinod Eshwer, Executive Creative Directors, Bangalore.
Additionally, Rina Francis, Finance Director, and Reena Nair, the People & Culture Manager and Head of HR at Leo Burnett Orchard, will oversee their respective functions across the Mumbai and Bangalore offices. With this, the key leadership structure at Leo Burnett Orchard is now in place.
The core management team of Saurabh Varma, Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, South Asia, and Dheeraj Sinha, Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett, South Asia, will oversee both the agencies in their respective capacities.
For Leo Burnett Orchard, the transformation comes at a time when the agency is creating some of the most talked about, memorable and integrated work for some of India’s biggest brands such as Amazon, Colors, Wipro,Emami, Essilor,Amante, ITC Foods, Jyothy Laboratories, Macho, Ruchi Soya, and Indiacast, among others.
On her new role, Mahuya said, “I am extremely excited to be a part of Leo Burnett Orchard, especially to lead over a 100 people across Mumbai and Bangalore. I couldn’t have come in at a more opportune moment, when the agency is seeing such dynamic momentum and is handling some of the most marquee brands in the country. My vision isn’tto just make Leo Burnett Orchard the fastest growing agency, but to also create some incredible integrated work using the ‘Power of One’and harnessing the Group’s cutting-edge specialist functions.”
