Leo Burnett India, part of Publicis Groupe India, has announced the elevation of Sonal Chhajerh and Pravin Sutar as National Creative Directors.
In their previous roles with the agency, Sonal was Groupe’s Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett Mumbai and Pravin was Head of Creative at Leo Burnett Bangalore. Both will continue reporting to Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia and Chairman Leo Burnett South Asia.
On the promotions, Rajdeepak Das, chief creative officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia and chairman Leo Burnett South Asia said, “At Burnett, we truly believe the driving factor for success is our people and culture. Over the past few years, Sonal and Pravin have gone above and beyond their designated roles to contribute to the success of Leo Burnett. And I am thrilled that they are now stepping in as co-pilots to our already strong creative leadership helmed by Sachin Kamble and Vikram Pandey as Chief Creative Officers.”
He further added, “Sonal has the creative vision to help empower brands with our ‘Impact a Billion’ thinking. Pravin has been relentlessly working towards shaping our Bangalore office into a formidable force with his creative acumen and leadership skills. Together as National Creative Directors Sonal and Pravin will be uniquely placed to leverage their collective experience and creative vision to unlock creative effectiveness for both our brands and our people.”
Commenting on the leadership changes, Amitesh Rao, chief executive officer of South Asia, Leo Burnett, Publicis Health and Publicis Business shares, “This has been a phenomenal year for us at Leo Burnett. And Sonal and Pravin have been a big part of our success story. Both are true representations of Leo Burnett, respected and admired by our clients, our partners, and our people. Their elevation will add more depth and value to our agency’s creative output and further accentuate our focus on solving business and human problems using creativity, innovation, data, and technology.”
Pravin has been managing a large portfolio of some of the biggest brands including Ikea, ACKO, RedBus, Kingfisher, Heineken, and Lenovo, to name a few.
Regarding his appointment, Pravin Sutar, national creative director, Leo Burnett India said, “Leo Burnett is right at the center when it comes to creativity and innovation in the country. I’m really excited with the opportunity presented to me by Raj and Amitesh and am committed to finding fresh avenues and platforms to express ideas while preserving our unique Leo Burnett culture. And with the team we’ve built over the past few years, we’re more than ready to undertake this journey.”
Sonal Chhajerh led the P&G Whisper account and was instrumental in the ‘Missing Chapter’ campaign which is one of the agency’s most acclaimed and awarded work.
Adding further about her appointment Sonal Chhajerh, national creative director, Leo Burnett India said, “I am excited to step into this role and build on the vision and outstanding progress we have achieved as an agency over the past few years. I truly believe that the future of advertising is using creativity as a force for good —impacting billions of lives through innovation and sustainability. I am thankful to Raj and Amitesh for trusting me with this responsibility and am looking forward to collaborating with colleagues and our brand partners to create work that is truly world-class, scalable, and makes a real difference.”
