Saatchi & Saatchi NCD leaves agency to start own venture

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Ramesh Ramanathan, national creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, who put in his papers at the end of December 2007, believes firmly in that old saw. A veteran with 24 years of experience in advertising, Ramanathan re-joined Saatchi & Saatchi for a second stint in January 2007. Prior to that, he set up his own company, called Firing Neurons, which provided consultancy services and helped companies direct their energies towards achieving their desired objectives and boosting their performance.

Now, Ramanathan is once again in a mood to venture out and start something new.

Before starting Firing Neurons in 2004, Ramanathan was chief creative officer at Mudra Communications. During his first stint at Saatchi & Saatchi, from 2001 to 2004, he was national creative director. After that, he joined Mudra.

Ramanathan has worked closely with companies such as Lowe, TVS and Pogo in Southeast Asia. Over the last year, he has worked on campaigns for AOL, Sony Ericsson, Future Generali, TVS and others.

Ramanathan started his career in 1984 at Ogilvy and worked for 14 years at that agency. It was under his leadership that the agency produced the More Smiles per Hour campaign for the best-selling TVS Victor and resurrected Mr Kim in the ad for the Santro Xing.

During his time at Saatchi & Saatchi, the agency picked up a silver Pencil (for The Terry Fox Foundation) at the One Show 2003, and a silver statue (for Ariel) at the Clio Awards 2003.