Awards
Cannes, Spikes, Clios, London International, Adstars, New York festival: World Gold medal. Most awarded South Asia agency at Abbies, Sri Lanka Agency of the year, Best of Ogilvy Worldwide. Guest of the UN - Human Rights campaign.
International Jury
D&AD Impact Council and Jury 2023, 2022, 2021
ADC FUSION CUBE JURY 2021
DEI CATEGORY
WARC Chinese Strategy 2021
WARC Asian Strategy 2020
Gerety Award 2021
EXECUTIVE JURY, SINGAPORE
ADSTARS FINAL JURY- 2021
DIVERSE INSIGHTS, OUTDOOR, PSA, PIVOT, BRAND, RADIOP & AUDIO
SHOTS -ASIA PACIFIC 2021
Adfest 2021 & 2020
Brand Experience Lotus & Direct Lotus
AME Awards 2020
ADVISORY BOARD & ASIA PACIFIC JURY
New York Festival 2019
Executive Jury
Spikes Asia 2019
Speaker for Inaugural SEE IT BE IT Program
Spikes Asia 2018
Creative Effectiveness
Dubai Lynx 2019
Film, Print, Publishing, Radio, Direct & Inaugural Glass Jury
Professional Experience
Nov 2020 – present
Founder & CCO
HumanSense, Colombo, Sri Lanka
HumanSense is an Independent Collective of Creative & Strategic solutions, rooted in the vision to impact Social Change.
Jun 2019 – Aug 2020
Creative & Culture Officer (CCO)
Brands for Humans, Bangkok, Thailand
Building the creative culture and guiding the creative output of BFH, an independent digitally integrated agency.
Nov 2017 – Apr 2019
Creative Chairperson
BBDO, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Leading the creative output for all communication across the agency’s clients, with the main focus on the agency’s largest client, Fonterra. And new business wins.
Jun 2015 – Oct 2017
Group Chief Creative Officer
Ogilvy Group, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Leading and guiding the creative output of the Ogilvy group companies: Phoenix O&M, Neo@Ogilvy, Ogilvy Media, Ogilvy PR.
Jan 2014 - Jan 2015
Creative Director – North America
Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, USA
Leading the creative communication for P&G's Head & Shoulders - The No. 1 Anti Dandruff Shampoo in the World. With Sofia Vergara as brand ambassador.
Jun 2006 – July 2013
Regional Creative Director – Unilevers
(Regional and Global brands) MullenLowe, Bangkok, Thailand.
Leading country launches and campaigns for Unilever brands across Asia & the globe, ensuring the brand spoke in one voice, across cultures and languages. {br}{br} Unilever brand experience: Walls Ice Cream / Signal & Close Up / Rexona Deos / CLEAR anti dandruff range/ Citra skin care range/ Sunlight dishwash, CIF / OMO detergent. {br}{br} Country cluster experience: South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) SE Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, China) and selective global projects (Japan, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Brazil)
June 2003 – May 2006
Executive Creative Director
Phoenix Ogilvy, Colombo, Sri Lanka
As National head of the creative department, was responsible for the creative output for the agency's clients. Lead a team of 30+ creative people and 40+ clients.
May 2001 – May 2003
Associate Creative Director – Colgate Palmolive
Rediffusion Y&R, Mumbai, India
Was responsible for the strategic & creative communication for the agency's multinational client, Colgate Palmolive and helped grow the brand nationally.
Nov 2000 – Jan 2001
Executive Agency Producer
Admerasia Advertising, New York, USA
3-Month Freelance assignment for Admerasia Advertsing, New York, USA Was in charge of the production of a campaign targeted at Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in the United States of America
Jun 1995 – Oct 2000
Films Manager & Art Director
Head of film production FCB Ulka, Mumbai, India
Heading and managing the entire AV department, responsible for creating films for the agency's clients. Before that role, worked as an Art Director in the same agency.
Voluntary Positions
Oct 2017-present
Personal Growth Officer
Women Empowered Global
This is a voluntary position for the not-for-profit organization that is a dedicated platform for female professionals to empower them to shatter the glass ceiling, unlock their potential and achieve greater career success.
Oct 2018 - 2022
Vice President
4As Sri Lanka
Advertising body of Sri Lanka, representing the advertising agencies of Sri Lanka and dedicated to raising the bar for the industry.
Skills & Endorsements
Integrated Marketing
Creative Direction
Marketing Communications
Creative Strategy
Digital Strategy
Brand Development
Video Production
Art Direction
Recommendations
Vipul Chawla
President - Pizza Hut International
Ruchi is one of the most creative, business minded and passionate brand thinkers I’ve had the privilege of working with. Her contribution to the brand agenda was timeless and insightful- and work was inspiring. She is a real star!
Nicole Sparshott
CEO Unilever ANZ & Global CEO T2 | Non Executive Director - WWF, Global Sisters, AFGC, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute Advisory Board | YPO | Climate Leaders Coalition | Champions of Change
Ruchi brings a passion and commitment to serving real people....not just abstract consumers or demanding clients. As a result she seeks to explore beyond the surface to unlock insight and create impact. She is a believer and deliverer of big ideas that cut through, connect and drive value for the end customer and the business.
Tom Markham
Head of Creative, Facebook, USA.
I was lucky enough to work with Ruchi on a number of projects when I was at Lowe. She's a very talented and passionate creative, and a great person to boot. At one point we ran a global creative competition through 75 offices and Ruchi and her partner won with an excellent idea. She then worked her ass off to get it made, on top of her busy schedule, remaining upbeat throughout. She has that rare skill of pushing projects to better places and pushing people to better things without even raising her voice. Ruchi is a tremendous asset to any agency.
Harjot Singh
Global Chief Strategy Officer, McCann at McCann Worldgroup
Ruchi is a delight to work with. She is passionate and involved with the entire communication development process, and is hence an invaluable partner for a strategic planner. When we worked together, it was this level of passion and involvement from her side that helped us bring an enviable level of rigour and imagination to strategy. She is receptive, intuitive and very collaborative. She sets very high standards for herself and for the work, which she invariably meets and exceeds. I have noticed how working with her brings out the best in people. Clients love her; as do her peers.
Paul Grubb
Regional Creative Director at GTB
Ruchi is a star. She is a great creative writer and creative director, of course. But she's also extremely disciplined, calm and professional, all of which make her good with clients and a delight to work with. But she also has that rare commodity in this business - integrity. What more do you need...
Tham Khai Meng
Investor, Board member, Fmr Co-Chairman, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer Ogilvy & Mather
Ruchi cares. Armed with this rare asset and coupled with her resourcefulness, it was little wonder that shortly after she took over the creative leadership of the small country office with even smaller budgets - Ogilvy Sri Lanka, she led them to win Agency of the Year in the local awards. Spurred on by this accolade, she went on to write a palpable radio spot that won the country's first Cannes, Clio and LIA Finalist. Her film for the Disabled, advocating for access to public places, made the first entry that was featured in the Best of Ogilvy worldwide reel. With her kind of talent, tenacity and focus, I was not surprised when Ruchi landed a job as Creative Director on Head & Shoulders at Saatchis in New York in 2014. This opportunity allowed her to flex her wings and she went on to tell compelling brand stories on small and large global brands. It is her likeable personality, her industriousness and talent to solve challenging business problems that makes her stand out from her peers. Ruchi gets it. This gift, combined with her optics and constant drive to raise the creative bar in today's ever-changing world, makes Ruchi a formidable ally for any agency.
Anindya Dasgupta
Global P&L Leader | CEO | CMO | Business Strategist | Entrepreneur | Mentor | Visionary
Ruchi is one of the TOP Creative thinkers I have ever worked with. What makes her unique is that not only does she think creatively, but more often than not, provides a highly strategic perspective to the problem at hand. The other quality that sets Ruchi apart is that she takes personal ownership of every project that she works on - much beyond her professional requirement. So when one works with her, one can rest assured that the work will not only get done, but would get done to the highest quality possible. Unlike most other Creative brains who still think TV / Cinema first, Ruchi is one of the few who approaches a Creative problem with a full ecosystem solution - including a strong leaning towards digital platforms. That allows a lot of experimentation - something that I have always preferred as a learning approach to consumer engagement.
Danny Searle
Former Chief Creative Officer and Vice Chairman BBDO Asia / Chairman BBDO SIngapore
Ruchi is very good at winning trust and creating relationships of mutual respect with senior clients. She presents well and is a born leader. She is a contemporary thinker, adept at social media, activation, purpose driven brand building and all things digital. And you’ll find all these skills reflected in her work. She has spoken on important industry issues like ethics, collaboration and equality.
Saby Mishra
Group CEO MullenLowe Mishra, Former CEO JWT Vietnam, Consumer Branding specialist, Creative tech entrepreneur
Ruchi Sharma is an experienced Creative leader who brings together strategic clarity, passion, pragmatism and strong work on big brands on big clients. While doing that she's able to effortlessly mobilize teams, resources, clients and consensus to drive results. Great asset at a leadership level.
SANJAI SRIVASTAVA
Global Business Leadership| Strategic Leadership| Multicultural & Multifunctional TEAMS | SA, CHINA, USA, UK ,SEA,
One of the most mature, hardworking and passionate creative people I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with. In addition to her fantastic work ethic, Ruchi has a keen understanding of what it takes for brands and businesses to succeed across multiple markets, geographies and cultures - a rare trait ! Coupled with her obvious creative skills, Ruchi is also a fabulous team player and manager- often going out of her way to nurture, guide and help the entire agency team - not just her creative colleagues. Inspite of having been in the industry for a long time, Ruchi is constantly trying to reinvent herself, whether its in new categories, geographies or media. It has been a pleasure and a privilege working alongside Ruchi. Any organisation or team should consider themselves lucky to have Ruchi on board
Ambi Parameswaran
Independent Brand Strategist - Brand Coach - Start-Up Mentor - Best-Selling Author - #TEDx Speaker - Podcaster
Ruchi started with FCB Ulka as Star One trainee from Sophia College of Arts, was one of the brightest young visualisers in the agency. Her interest in the video medium motivated her to move to films and she took on the role of Films Manager at a very young age. As a film manager not only did she build great rapport with some of the best film makers in India, but played an active role in adding value to the script and the visual treatment of the films made by the agency. Her integrity, commitment and passion was widely appreciated by all the colleagues.