Creative people often enter advertising attracted by its potential for cultural reach. Make an ad that hits the spot and you will find it talked about on TV, shared on social, and maybe even sung in the school playground. It is a dream for every creative for their work to go viral, but at Leo Burnett India, this ambition is baked into the agency’s creative philosophy.

CCOs Rajdeepak Das and Sachin Kamble describe the agency’s goal as to ‘impact a billion’. And while this may seem an impossible number, in a country of 1.4 billion people, it is feasible. But before we start obsessing about clicks and data, it’s worth stating that this intention is as much about a state of mind as a literal number.

Das (who is also CCO of Publicis Groupe South Asia and chairman of Leo Burnett South Asia) explains that the agency’s strategy is working with brands to provide “solutions” for Indian society. “I wanted to have a creative agency in India which is world class, which actually shows a different side of India, not the poverty,” he says. “I really thought there are lots of problems to solve in the country. I can’t expect someone else to solve the problems for me. If I’m born and brought up here, if I grew here, I have to do it – and who better than the creative guy to do it?”