Personality-driven agency model is the past, democratised creativity is the future: Leo Burnett CEO

Eight months into the role, he speaks on the role of culture, labels, awards, humour, & more.

In January 2024, Amitesh Rao was appointed as the CEO of Leo Burnett South Asia, a Publicis ad agency counted as one of advertising’s classic shops while at the same time gaining a reputation for intelligent tinkering with technology and data to dole out creative work.

For instance, it used Google Maps data to find empty spots during the day in India’s jam-packed cities to set up turfs for people to play. Finder for PepsiCo’s Gatorade won a Gold in the Creative Data Lions at the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Rao joined the agency from IPG-owned McCann Worldgroup, another advertising behemoth, where he spent four years and last served as its executive director for the north and west markets.

He took over from Dheeraj Sinha who moved to FCB Group as its Group CEO for India and South Asia after spending nearly eight years at the Publicis-owned ad agency.

When asked how his move from one ad giant to another took off, he quickly remarked that more than how the conversation started, how the conversation went was the interesting bit; some of the conversations with key people went on till 2 am or 3 am.  

"They were stimulating conversations," he says, "and not the usual, 'Hey, we want to hire you,' or 'Hey, will you please hire me?' Although that was the eventual outcome.

“I was not joining a company that needed to be mended, repaired or fixed. It was doing well. How I saw my role was to lead an entity that was poised to leap into the future and has shown the capability and desire to do so.”

When asked about the leap, he quipped, “To be counted amongst the best creative companies in the world and not just in this market.”

He also spoke to us (afaqs!) about culture, awards, agency model, independent agencies, and humour, among other things.

Edited Excerpts:

Culture will play a key role in making Leo Burnett one of the best creative shops out there. Earlier, each agency used to have its distinct culture but with everything so fluid today, what is your take on it?

I think culture now eats lunch and dinner also (a nod to the adage: culture eats strategy for breakfast). It is the real differentiator of a creative company.

There was a time when the creative advertising agency model was very individual and personality-driven and the stunning talent of one or two individuals defined the culture and success of an agency. That is in the past and I do not think it is the future.

Creativity is democratised and can be wielded by many, not a select few with craft. Therefore, if you foster a culture that encourages it, you will differentiate better than any other creative company. I think the role of culture and creativity is highly polarised today.

To stay ahead of this polarisation curve, you need people who think of great ideas. Where are you finding creative talent?

The thing is, everybody has ideas. Some people express and articulate them better. Some people recognise an idea better. Some people don't even realise that they have an idea. And yes, some people can shape and mould an idea.

Coming to brands (for whom the ideas are generated and nurtured), some meet an agency’s creative superstars at the big meetings and pitches but see the mid or junior-level folk do most of the work, how do you respond to such issues?

Superstar or run-of-the-mill, it is not how I look at people. You're good at some stuff and you're not good at some stuff. The job of a leader is to recognise the value a particular person can add. If you can do that, you have a happy and successful organisation. I don't think there are superstars anymore.

Speaking of success, Leo Burnett has been awarded for its use of technology in its campaigns. But, at what level of understanding are clients with technology and AI?

I think clients have matured greatly, much like how agencies have. A couple of years ago, there was a little bit of early-stage fascination with technology for the sake of it. But, is technology an end in itself? No. Neither are our clients asking for it. Nor are we trying to do it.

Let's be real. Anyone who claims to know exactly how things work in this transformational phase the world is in is not being honest. I don't think even Sam Altman knows what shape AI will take 12 months from now, let alone five years.

Are you worried about being labelled as an agency that only uses technology?

Not at all. You look at what Gatorade did with Turf Finder, it was a fabulous use of technology. But is the idea about technology? No. If someone wants to label that as a technology solution, it does not bother me.

The fact that we won in the creative data category was a matter of even greater pride than winning the gold.

How do you define your relationship with awards?

They are validation and a natural outcome of our work. Leo Burnett is not an award-chasing agency. We like winning awards, of course. It helps us to push ourselves, attract better talent, and get more business.

All our awards are for mainstream work done for major clients who have invested a significant amount of money.

The creative industry is often accused of creating work to win awards and not necessarily to solve a client’s problem or improve its bottom line.

I am not one to either critique or justify one approach or the other. I have told you about Leo Burnett’s approach.

At the same time, there is another perspective. An interesting person from the industry once told me that in the fashion and automobile industries, you have concept clothes and cars which are showcased at fashion shows and exhibitions, and win big.

Now, people do not wear such clothes or drive such automobiles. But they have an important role because people in the fashion or automobile sectors are pushing themselves and developing their skills by doing concept work.

In some ways, awards play that role in the creative industry as well. I don't want to say this is right or this is wrong or that this approach is the only one or that approach is the only one.

You mentioned big accounts and mainstream work. Today, the question of retainers or projects is even more profound, what is the split amongst these two at Leo Burnett?

I don't think Leo Burnett is different from the industry's split benchmark. We recognise that much like in the consulting world or other service delivery models, this shift is a permanent one.

Relationships are still important in our business, but they do not always have to be contractual. They are not always commercial relationships.

I think there may be project-based models where great quality work benefits the client, and the agency's involvement is driven by the relationship. However, the commercial model may be more project-oriented.

Look, we can sit and cry and complain about it but it won't help anyone. This is the reality of commerce in the world today. It's not just about the advertising or the creative industry.

Also Read: More ‘brand love’ work is going to indies say tgthr co-founders fresh off a Glass Lion win

Then what do you have to say about this trend of more ‘brand love’ work going to indie agencies, and big network agencies handling tactical work?

The access of small versus big agencies is not the access with which I would view it. At Leo Burnett, you will find a lot of work that we do is hard to label. Is this 'brand love' work? Is this volume-driving work? Is this functional work?

Our latest work for Spotify was Music Magic Hai. Does it bring Spotify much closer to what the meaning of music is in our lives? Yes. Does it drive downloads and subscriptions? Yes. You can't separate them.

Now, is there a trend where some clients believe, ‘Hey, these kinds of guys are better at doing this kind of work and these kinds of guys are better at this kind of work?’ Yes. It's just that these two kinds of guys are not necessarily small and big. That's not the axis of differentiation.

Is there an antidote to the wafer-thin agency model of today?

There's always an antidote to everything. We are the most creative people in the world. We will find creative answers to this too. Is it an easy answer? Of course not. It needs changes at various levels like structure and pricing. How we manage our talent is an important variable.

The old advertising world used to be myopic and territorial. The new creative world is inclusive and embracing. And that is a part of what will help solve this problem.

Lastly, the Cannes Lions introduced a humour category this year. Is it a sign that the Indian advertising industry needs to stop taking itself seriously?

It is not just about the Indian advertising industry. I think we all need to take ourselves less seriously in the world.

When you work, in environments where the absolute dazzling power of a personality overshadows many things, then maybe you won't laugh at yourself a lot.

We are not in that environment now. We (Leo Burnett) take ourselves very casually. We laugh at ourselves, we criticise ourselves, we love ourselves, we pat ourselves on the back.

So, the agency business is no longer personality-driven?

Increasingly, yes. The sword that could be wielded only by someone who had 30 years of training in the craft of swordsmanship can now be wielded by many people because of this thing called technology and what it's doing.