Leo Burnett India appoints Sonal Chhajerh, Pravin Sutar as National Creative Directors

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, Chhajerh was Groupe Executive Creative Director and Sutar was Head of Creative, Leo Burnett Bangalore.

Both will continue reporting to Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia & Chairman Leo Burnett South Asia. As the agency strengthens its creative leadership, these elevations "mark the commitment to world-class creativity and technology, innovative new-age thinking and holistic, high-impact business solutions that strengthen brands," it said

On the promotions, Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia & Chairman Leo Burnett South Asia said “Over the past few years, both of them 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."

Das shared that Chhajerh has the creative vision to help empower brands. Sutar has been working towards shaping the Bangalore office into a formidable force with his creative acumen and leadership skills. "Together as National Creative Directors, they will be uniquely placed to leverage their collective experience and creative vision to unlock creative effectiveness for both our brands and our people," he added.

Commenting on the leadership changes, Amitesh Rao, CEO of South Asia, Leo Burnett, Publicis Health & Publicis Business shared, “Both are true representation 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.”

Talking about his appointment, Sutar 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.”

Adding further about her appointment Chhajerh 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.”

Chhajerh leads 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. Sutar has been heading the creative in Leo Burnett Bangalore and has been instrumental in strengthening the Leo Burnett Bangalore offerings by managing the large portfolio of some of the biggest brands including Ikea, ACKO, RedBus, Kingfisher, Heineken, and Lenovo, to name a few.