Publicis Groupe announces Creative Council for South Asia; onboards Rajdeepak Das as chairman

Publicis Groupe announces Creative Council for South Asia; onboards Rajdeepak Das as chairman

Das will lead the overall creative direction, product, and thinking for the Groupe.

Rajdeepak Das

Mumbai: Publicis Groupe on Tuesday announced the appointment of Rajdeepak Das as the chairman of the Groupe’s newly launched Creative Council for South Asia.

Leo Burnett South Asia CEO and CCO Rajdeepak Das in addition to his current role will add depth and dimension to the Groupe’s creative products. As part of the additional role, he will lead the overall creative direction, product, and thinking for the Groupe and will champion narratives that truly empower and define the next stage of Indian creativity.

The newly launched Creative Council for South Asia will further strengthen the Groupe’s inspiring, truly remarkable creativity that transforms brands and businesses. Publicis Groupe has a rich culture and legacy of transforming brands through progressive, purposeful creativity. The council will channelise capabilities across creative, data, media, and technology to create progressive, modern, purposeful work with Publicis Groupe’s unique power of one strength.

Publicis Groupe South Asia CEO Anupriya Acharya said, "At Publicis Groupe,  we have a tremendous roster of brands, scaled capabilities across design, experience, data and technology, the finest talent pool and the ‘Power of One.’ There is no better time than now to bring all these together and partner our clients in building truly epic work and epic brands. Rajdeepak who apart from being a dynamic and gifted creative leader, has been the force behind many famous, iconic campaigns for leading brands and has pivoted Leo Burnett India to top position among creative agencies in the country today;  he was but a natural choice for this role."

Speaking on his appointment, Das said, "It is an honour to lead The Creative Council for Publicis Groupe South Asia. The council will use the power of brand purpose and new-age creativity to bring a positive impact to people’s lives. The council will help pedigreed brands collaborate closely with the world-class talent of the Groupe. I can’t wait to get started and look forward to leading a power-packed council that is going to create next-generation solutions."

Das is an outstanding creative leader, with over 20 years of experience in building successful brands. He is a great believer in the power of modern creativity to transform human lives. From saving India’s biggest national treasure, the INS Vikrant warship, with the help of Bajaj, to being part of "Roads That Honk," the world's first anti-collusion road management system for Hindustan Petroleum, to developing India's first micro-finance system, his work speaks for itself and is centred on human values.

His movement for Whisper "Touch The Pickle" won Procter & Gamble the inaugural Cannes Glass Lions Grand Prix for breaking the menstrual taboo. More recently, Das’s work for Whisper "Keep Girls In School" won Leo Burnett India and P&G a Cannes Lions Grand Prix in sustainable development goals. The agency also won the title of ‘Creative Agency Of The Year’ at The One Show Abby Awards, Goafest ’22.

Das has more than 100 international awards to his name, such as The One Show, D&AD, and Spikes. He was the only creative head featured in the popular Netflix series The Creative Indians Season 4.

In his words, Das’s biggest creation till date is Apollo 11, a specialised division of Leo Burnett India or what he refers to as "The Mutant Creatives." This is a team of hugely talented young people in their 20’s with backgrounds such as aerospace engineers, product designers, data analytics and environmental scientists, who solve brand and human problems with him. His focus is on new-age brand solutions, and he believes "Only way to predict the future is to build it yourself."