Creativity is all about benchmarking: Dheeraj Sinha

Leo Burnett India received the loudest applause at Goafest 2023’s ABBY One Show Awards, as they were named the Digital Specialist Agency of the Year and achieved a Grand Prix on the second day of the ABBY Awards. Leo Burnett India concluded the festival on a high note by securing another Grand Prix and being recognised as the Creative Agency of The Year, Branded Content & Entertainment Specialist Agency of The Year, and Brand Activation & Promotions Specialist Agency of The Year.

On Day 3 of the festival, Leo Burnett India won a total of 24 awards in the Creative ABBYs category, 11 awards in Brand Activations & Promotions, and 7 awards in Branded Content & Entertainment. Their outstanding work, titled ‘Oreo #BringBack2011’, done for Oreo India in the Brand Activation & Promotion - FMCG - Foods & Beverages sub-category earned them the prestigious Grand Prix.

Speaking about how these awards and events motivate young professionals, Dheeraj Sinha, CEO, Leo Burnett South Asia & Chairman, BBH India, said, “Creativity is all about benchmarking, if you don’t see the best work, whether in this country or globally, how do you know what you are measuring yourself against, so we have always maintained that we don’t do work for awards, we do work for client’s business. Our job everyday is to make our client successful. But when you win awards, you realise where your benchmark of creativity on that work is. For young people to go out and see what is the kind of work that everybody is doing and what is the kind of work we are doing and how the work that we are doing is faring, that gives you a sense of benchmark of where you are.”

Commenting on the wins at Goafest this year, Sinha said, “Our ambition five years was to build India’s number one new age agency. To come to the largest festival of advertising in India and be awarded the Digital Creative Agency of the Year has been a fantastic feeling. For me, what is more important is that we are winning across brands and campaigns. It was very gratifying. What it embodies is the coming of the age of culture of creativity at Leo Burnett and coming of the age of digital at Leo Burnett.”

These are edited excerpts of the special interaction with Dheeraj Sinha. For the entire conversation, watch below: