AD Agencies
Leo Burnett India onboards Anirban Roy as chief strategy officer
Mumbai: Leo Burnett India, part of Publicis Groupe India has strengthened its senior leadership team by appointing Anirban Roy as chief strategy officer. Anirban will report to Leo Burnett – South Asia, CEO Amitesh Rao. The appointment comes from the agency’s unprecedented growth and success in India.
Commenting on the announcement, Leo Burnett, South Asia CEO Amitesh Rao shared, “The appointment of Anirban is a significant milestone for the agency as it brings together cohesive strategic leadership to Leo Burnett which will play a critical role in our growth ambitions. Anirban brings a wealth of experience, great leadership acumen and a tenacious commitment to excellence which will not only benefit our existing brand partners but help us drive our new business growth plans. He has a proven track record of success, and I am sure that given our diverse set of brands, partnered with his expertise, will set the bar high for the future.”
Leo Burnett, South Asia CCO, Publicis Groupe, South Asia & chairman Rajdeepak Das added, “What sets Leo Burnett India apart is our approach to creativity – which has always been rooted in people and purpose. Anirban’s appointment reinforces our commitment to our strategic approach to creativity. I would like to welcome Anirban to the Leo Burnett family.”
Commenting on his appointment, Leo Burnett India chief strategy officer Anirban Roy said, “Leo Burnett is a remarkable brand which has steadily built a pool of top tier talent, creative momentum and has earned a reputation for doing award-winning work that moves the market. These ingredients, along with the stellar leadership team & the enviable client roster is what drew me to Leo Burnett. I am excited to see what we can do together to unlock fame and growth for the brands we serve.”
Anirban is known for his ability to challenge the status quo & steer brands by keeping things simple yet impactful. He has worked for 21 years across some of the biggest organisations including Ogilvy, McCann and most recently Wieden & Kennedy where he served as head of strategy, India.
During his career, he has steered brands such as Amazon, Maggi, Jio 5G, Titan, BMW, Yum Foods, Coke, Sprite and Bingo! – to name a few. His writings have been published in WARC, Economic Times & The Drum. His work has brought in awards at Effies, Cannes, AMEs and D&AD.
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
