Campaign India Agency Report Card 2011: Leo Burnett

Type of agency: Advertising, Digital and Design

Ownership: Publicis Groupe

Key personnel: Arvind Sharma, chairman, India Sub-continent, Nitish Mukherjee, MD, KV Sridhar, NCD, Rajeev Sharma, national planning director, Nitesh Tiwari, national creative resource

Accounts won: Coke Studio, Samsung Refrigerators, Samsung Retail, New Samsung Mobile Projects - Metro, Galaxy S II, Hero, Iodex, CavinKare, Asia Motor Works, Tata Chemicals - i-Shakti pulses, Bel Foods, Mahindra First Choice, Shiv Nadar Foundation, Games 24/7

Accounts lost: None reported

The agency had a good run with new business wins including Iodex, Hero, Asia Motor Works, Coke Studio and Samsung’s refrigerators, retail business and some mobile projects. Campaigns for McDonald’s, Reliance Digital TV, Kaun Banega Crorepati and HDFC Life were some of the more visible work from the agency during the year.  Though the agency did not get much recognition at Cannes Lions 2011 for their Gandhiji Font, the agency won a bronze at Spikes Asia 2011. The agency led the Indian tally at Adfest 2011 with six metals,. Also it was  recognised for their work at New York Fest, D&AD and Clio. In the domestic awards circuit, the agency won three Gold, eight Silver and nine Bronze metals at Goafest. Overall, though the agency has managed to win new businesses, the jury felt that it hasn’t been an outstanding year for Leo Burnett and hopes to see truly great work next year.
How Campaign India rates the agency: 7

How Leo Burnett rates itself: 8
Leo Burnett India is once again headed for an impressive growth of above 20 percent this year . ARC WorldWide, our digital and activation services arm is growing at an even faster pace.  Significant forays into branded content and advertising-funded programming have been made this year. We added some of the most prestigious clients to our roster, and significantly contributed to the growth of our existing clients. Our campaign for Sony Entertainment Television’s Kaun Banega Crorepati received popular acclaim and contributed to KBC becoming the most watched reality show of 2011. Our ‘Boyfriend-Girlfriend’  TVC for McDonald’s India became one of the most popular worldwide and was amongst the top ten most shared commercials. Leo Burnett India won a total of 55 awards last year, including Spikes, New York Fest, D&AD and Clio and the most metals from India at Adfest 2011. We continued to perform strongly at domestic award shows, winning 20 metals at Goafest and seven metals at the Radio Mirchi Kaan Awards this year. Our endeavour of making Leo Burnett the destination for talent reflected in our independent global employee survey. 84 percent of employees felt that Leo Burnett India is a great place to work, 90 percent are proud to work for the agency while 84 percent felt that the agency has an outstanding future.