Arvind Sharma is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad- 1977 batch. He served as head of Leo Burnett, South Asia for well over two decades. In his last corporate role, Arvind was a member of the Global Leadership Council of Leo Burnett Worldwide. In 2015, Arvind turned an independent director and a tech & internet entrepreneur.
After leaving IIMA, Arvind spent his first few years in marketing before switching to advertising. For well over three decades Arvind has been closely associated with famous multinational and Indian brands in India and internationally. His clients included multinational clients like Procter & Gamble, Heinz, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, General Mills, Samsung, SAB Miller and large local Indian groups like Bajaj, Godrej, HDFC, Reliance, Tatas & Wipro. Arvind has also been the copywriter behind a number of famous campaigns in India including, ‘Ye kya haal banaa rakha hai kuch lete kyon nahin’ for Coldarin and the ‘Aam admi’ campaign that brought the Congress-led UPA government to power.
Under Arvind’s leadership, Leo Burnett Mumbai achieved the distinction of joining the list of creatively 20 most awarded agencies in the world. Between 2000 & 2010, Leo Burnett Mumbai was awarded the Global Agency of the Year in the Leo Burnett network thrice.
Arvind Sharma is an ex-President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India, ex-Chairman of Advertising Standards Council of India, ex-Chairman of Media Research Users’ Council of India and founding Director of the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India. Arvind was the founding Chairman of Goafest. He is a member of the Board of Governors of Education Support Organization- an NGO focused on innovation in education at the primary & secondary school levels in India. Arvind is also an Independent Director on the Board of listed public companies.
Arvind has been a guest faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad since 2002 and IIT Bombay since 2016. Arvind has also has been teaching from time to time at Mica, IMT, ISB, NMIS and Symbiosis. He has been invited to speak at Harvard Business School, Wharton and Columbia.