MUMBAI: Leo Burnett Group India CCO Rajdeepak Das today announced the elevation of Sainath Saraban as the national creative director (NCD). As part of his new role, Sai (as he is fondly known), will oversee and take care of the Chennai market as well as key national clients. He will continue to be based in Delhi as he assumes this new responsibility.

Leo Burnett Group CEO Surabh Varma said, “Sai is one of the best creative talents in The Leo Group today. His thorough and in-depth understanding of the target audience coupled with popular culture comes through clearly in the great work that he creates for our clients. I look forward to seeing him make magic in the Chennai market and on our key national clients.”

Leo Burnett CCO Rajdeepak Das added, “Sai is definitely one of the most promising talents of Leo Burnett India and undoubtedly one of the good human beings I have come across. We want the greatness to spread to one more office. Cheers to Sai.”

On his new role Sai said, “Over the last nine years, I have grown with the agency and the agency has grown with me. Now it’s time to take my role to the next level. I see challenges and opportunities alike and along with Saurabh and Raj, I look forward to what lies ahead. The ‘Change Everything’ philosophy is something we all believe in and it holds true for the kind of work we create and how we create it.” 

Sai, who joined Leo Burnett in 2005, began his career with JWT Delhi, where he worked for five years on brands like Boost, Pizza Hut, Hero Cycles and CNBC. This was followed by a brief stint at McCann Erickson after which he joined JWT Bangalore where he worked on Kingfisher, Red Label Tea, McDowell’s and was a part of the team that won Levi’s and Nike. At Leo Burnett, Delhi, some of the memorable work that Sai has created are on brands such as Thumbs Up, Maaza, Minute Maid, Perfetti, Samsung to name a few.