Leo Burnett appoints Rakesh Hinduja as EVP

He joins the agency from Publicis Singapore.

Leo Burnett India has announced the appointment of Rakesh Hinduja as executive vice president, Mumbai. He will have the overall responsibility for one of the biggest units in the Mumbai office.

He joins Leo Burnett from Publicis Singapore, where in his role as regional business director - Asia, he partnered clients like P&G, L'Oreal and Citibank among others. He was instrumental in strengthening their regional footprint in markets like Australia, India, ASEAN, Japan and Korea.

Speaking on the appointment, Saurabh Varma, CEO, Leo Burnett India, says, "Rakesh is a result-oriented leader. Our endeavour is to create sustainable growth for our clients and his appointment is aligned with that objective. His experience spans from local to regional clients, from conventional communication to integrated solutions and from brands to business management, thereby making him a vital addition to Leo Burnett and to our clients."

Adds Hinduja on the new role, "I'm truly excited to join Leo Burnett and be back to play on home pitch, India. Leo Burnett's vision and integrated approach to business solutions absolutely resonates with the kind of agency and passion I want to be part of. Current evolution in India presents enormous opportunity across mediums and audiences, which I would like to leverage using my experience of working across categories and channels."

Hinduja's experience spans over 14 years in the business of telling stories that cuts across categories like Consumer Products, Retail, Financial Services, Consumer Durables, IT & Service Sector, which has given him the multi-dimensional knowledge and perspective required to grow brands and businesses. He has worked at Publicis Ambience, McCann Worldgroup, Ezeego1.com (digital interface for Cox & Kings) amongst others and partnered various clients - Marico, P&G, JK Helen Curtis, Unilever, Western Union, Balsara, UPS, Paypal, Tata, Emami, Godrej , Videocon and more.

Leo Burnett India's clientele includes brands like McDonald's, Complan, Glucon D, Thums Up, Maaza, Perfetti, Tide, Whisper, Samsung, Tata Capital, Tata Salt, HDFC Life Insurance and Bacardi among others.