As International Women’s Day 2023 approaches, Social Samosa puts together a list of women agency founders who are paving the way for others through their agencies in the advertising industry.
Advertising agencies form the narrative of how the world sees gender through campaign-driven communications for brands and with this, comes the need to make an informed decision.
In an industry where men take up most leadership positions, today, we are seeing strong women taking the lead to drive discussions on diversity and inclusivity.
As per Egon Zehnder Global Board Diversity Tracker 2022, women hold 27% of board positions, up by 3.7 percent from 2020, marking the fastest improvement in the percentage of women on boards in 10 years.
With International Women’s Day 2023 approaching fast, Social Samosa takes a look at women who have started their own ad agencies and are paving the way for others.
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Unmisha Bhatt – Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer India & MENA, Tonic Worldwide
With over 20 years of experience in developing Brand Communication & strategies across consumer touchpoints, Unmisha leads Tonic Worldwide’s India and MENA region as Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer. She leads strategy for brands by enabling global expansion and has worked with brands like Ponds (HUL), Bajaj Electricals, Tata Sky, Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd.
Chandni Shah – Founder & COO, Kinnect
Chandni founded Kinnect in 2011 with Rohan Mehta and went on to work in various verticals like Creative Strategy, Social Media Management, Web Development & Analytics, Search Engine Optimization, Online Media Buying, Video Production, Online Reputation Management & Influencer Management.
Vidya Venkatraman – Founder & CEO, Meraki & Co
Vidya founded Meraki & Co. in May 2020 and equipped creatively driven and digitally-focused marketing solutions to businesses. Graduating from IBS Bangalore with a major in Marketing, her career spans nine years as she worked for multiple organizations like Practo, Indiabulls, Yellow tie hospitality, Aflatoon, and Fashion TV.
Shradha Agarwal – Co-founder & CEO, Grapes Digital
An intrapreneurial itch made Shradha leave her MNC job at Bharti Airtel Limited to join Grapes Digital in 2013. She has worked with brands like Maruti Suzuki Nexa, Alpenliebe (Perfetti Van Melle), Mankind (Acnestar, Ringout) Blackberrys MensWear, Lacoste, Red Tape, Videocon World, Homeshop18, Kelvinator, Vovlo Eicher, OLX and many more.
Gauri Awasthi – Co-founder & Managing Director, Digital Edify
With a career spanning over 18 plus years, Gauri has worked at agencies like Cheil India, WPP and iCubesWire and more before starting Digital Edify in 2020. Her experience also includes working with Fabindia, Microsoft, Samsung, Adidas, HCL, Havells, Cargill, Reckitt Benckiser, Nestle, Titan, ITC – Wills Lifestyle & John Players, British Council, Biba, Pepperfry, Urban Ladder, United Breweries and more. She has been nominated as one of the Top 35 Women Achiever in New-Age Media by Google in 2019, recognized in the Top Rankers Excellence Award as #MarketingLeadership and awarded with #SS40Under40 by Social Samosa in 2020.
Sowmya Iyer – Founder & CEO, DViO Digital
Sowmya started DViO in the year 2011 with a set of investors and eventually bought them out to own 100% of the company. Her education in English Literature and Arts combined with running digital and technology companies early in her life helped her build the agency specialising in convergence of Creativity, Digital Channels and Technology to achieve business growth for its clients. She is also a start-up investor, a TEDx Speaker and Chief Mentor at the MAD-Tech Incubator, a marketing incubator for start-ups in advertising, content and marketing technology.
Ashwini Deshpande – Co-founder & Director, Elephant Design
A 1989 graduate of National Institute of Design, along with two Co-founders, Ashwini has led Elephant Design, an independent integrated design consultancy. The agency has worked for brands such as Daimler, Unilever, P&G, Gillette, Britannia, Piramal, Nirlep, Titan, Godrej and Paper Boat drinks. She has also been a jury member for Cannes Lions, Young Guns, Global ReBrand 100, D&AD Awards, Spike Asia & Design for Asia Awards.
Nisha Singhania – Co-founder & Director, Infectious Advertising
Starting her advertising journey 24 years ago, Nisha has worked with Gray, Leo Burnett, Rediffusion Y&R and Saatchi & Saatchi. She founded Infectious Advertising in 2013 with Ramanuj Shastry. Today, the agency has more than 50 employees and works with clients like IDFC, Tata, National Geographic, UltraTech Cement, Inorbit Malls and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri.
Neha Puri – Founder & CEO, Vavo Digital
Neha founded Vavo Digital in 2020 and has worked on driving marketing ROI with Influencer driven content. The organisation, which has its headquarters in Mumbai, has executed several influencer marketing campaigns.
Being a digital head she loves creativity, not only as a hobby, but as a way of life.
Swati Nathani – Co-founder & Chief Business Officer, Team Pumpkin
As someone who is passionate about ROI, Swati has advocated for entrepreneurship. She has worked towards driving ROI for clients with creative and performance-led campaigns, eventually, that drove ROI for her agency – Team Pumpkin. She has been awarded by Social Samosa Superwomen in 2020.
Stuti Jalan – Founder, Crosshairs Communication
Stuti founded Crosshairs Communication in April 2003. The company has grown since its inception through strategic & effective planning fused with innovative ideas and leadership. She has shared her experiences across several global forums including the Dell Women Entrepreneur Network and Fortune/US State Department Mentoring Program.
Have we missed listing any women agency founders? Write to us at content@socialsamosa.com.
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Source: Social Samosa
