Agencies Must Evolve From Advertising To Creative Problem-solving, Says Leo Burnett's Rajdeepak Das

“To change the ecosystem in a world of adaptivity, it takes time, its energy. So winning is just a small part of it,” says Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe South Asia and Chairman of Leo Burnett South Asia. 

In times where data, AI and personalisation hit the top, the question on every agency leader's mind is: how do we adapt and stay ahead of the curve? 

Das offers a candid and forward-thinking perspective on the strategies agencies should embrace to stay relevant. “The first strategy is the people that you hire. You have to hire people who are better than you in understanding all those things,” he asserts.

Creative Solutions

Breaking from traditional hiring practices that focused on advertising schools and art institutes, Das reveals that Leo Burnett has been actively recruiting from institutions like IIT, MIT and film schools in the past five to seven years. The rationale? “We need people who think solutions, not think advertising. The days have gone by with the industry of advertising. It's the industry of creative solutions.”

Das emphasises the need to shift from an ‘advertising' mindset to a 'solution’ mindset, where the primary goal is to solve human problems creatively. “Clients are not looking at advertising. They think, “How can you change things for me? How can you solve my problem? Solution -- we went out and found people who are amazing problem solvers. And the biggest thing, hand raisers.”

Aiding Change

The second strategy, according to Das, is to align with clients who are change-makers themselves. He underscores the importance of having a clear vision and purpose that drives everything. 

Reflecting on Leo Burnett's recent work, Das cites examples like their collaboration with Google on the ‘Whisper’ campaign, educating mothers about periods and projects like ‘Smart Farm’ with Lay's and ‘Biochar’. These initiatives, he feels, exemplifies the agency's move in a “very different direction.” 

Das envisions a future where agencies will move from being an ‘information industry’ to one focused on ‘prevention and prediction’, leveraging data to drive these efforts. 

Reema Bhaduri

BW Reporters The author is the Editorial Lead at BW Businessworld. Majorly writes on marketing, advertising, experiential marketing and retail. She closely looks upon the vertical of BW Marketing World and BW Retail World.