'For us, digital and mainline are one'

At the start of this year, Publicis Groupe brought together Leo Burnett and Publicis Worldwide to form a new 'creative constellation' with the formation of Leo. Amitesh Rao, CEO South Asia, Leo, Publicis Health & Publicis Business, talks to Christina Moniz about the transformation and its impact on the agency's business, and why it has an edge with Gen Z talent. Excerpts:

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What has changed since the shift from Leo Burnett to the newly rebranded Leo?

This was much more than a rebranding move from an optics perspective. It has helped us work with clients and talent in any part of the world. In the creative business, the degree of transformation is tremendous.

But how do you stay at the vanguard of that transformation?

With Leo, we have a philosophy, which is HI x AI. Very simply, it means that we bring the best of human intelligence together with the best of tech, data and artificial intelligence. The move basically adds an additional layer of creative and strategic firepower.

How has the transformation helped Leo? Has it made the agency nimble, tech-enabled or helped win more businesses?

Leo's track record in India and globally has been excellent even before this transformation happened. We are far outstripping the industry growth numbers, growing at least 40-50% faster than other agencies of similar scale across networks. Our agency works with a solution-oriented approach, which helps us win businesses by delivering results in a rapidly transforming marketplace. We have won upwards of 70 clients since January last year, but I don't believe that the number of new client wins is an indicator of a healthy business.