Digital marketing company in India | Principal Officers - V. Ramani | Atul Hegde

With years of experience in the advertising world (Lintas, Ulka, McCann Ericsson, Contract and Euro RSCG) and experience stretching across Unilever, Bajaj Auto, LML, Philips, BPL, Nestle, and Air France, Ramani can truly be credited for conceptualising the idea of an advertising agency that specialised in Internet communication. As a venture, he was so excited about the idea that he personally selected the first employees of this company, 6 years ago. All this at a time when he was already holding the positions of Executive Director and National Media Director (Euro RSCG). Ramani has served as guest faculty at MICA and other Management Institutes. Adjudged the Mediaperson for the Year 2000, Ramani is the driving force behind and within Connecturf.

Atul Hegde, Chief Executive Officer

‘Professional Entrepreneur’ is how Atul describes himself. In a career spanning 12 years, he has had highly successful stints at Euro RSCG and Vyas Giannetti Creative—both leading advertising agencies in the country. In his last stint, he led VGC to a ten fold growth in 4 years time. He also has to his credit the launch of India’s first sports concepts firm: Vyas Giannetti Creative Sports. His passion for treading the path less travelled has now brought him to Connecturf and the digital domain.

Atul has diverse and rich experience across categories like Financial Products, Media & Entertainment, Aviation, Consumer Electronics, Telecom & Retail—and has worked on brands like Philips, Air France, Sony, HDFC Bank, Aditya Birla Group, BBC World, Discovery Travel & Living, Times of India, and Birla Sun Life among many others.

Atul’s hobbies range from cooking and playing tennis to movie watching marathons with his wife. He is currently pursuing his passion for gambling and harbours hopes of driving one large casino in Vegas towards bankruptcy!

S Dharmarajan – Executive VP – Online Media

Dharma, as he is popularly known, brings his wealth of experience spanning more than 2 decades into the digital space. He started his career with Lintas (now Lowe India) in 1982. After a long stint, he moved to Triton and set up the Delhi office of Viking Video Productions, the television software marketing arm of Triton. While he served Viking as Regional Manager he also served Triton as their Media Controller.

In 1997, Dharma moved to Euro RSCG where he spent an adventurous 3 years. He then took a sabbatical from active media and returned two years later to join Fulcrum, the exclusive media buying unit of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. After four years, he moved to Posterscope (OOH division of Aegis and Percept) and headed their West and South region

Dharma is currently trying to get back in shape to take his rightful place as the lead batsman of the formidable Connecturf cricket team!

Ashok Karnik – Executive Creative Director

Having worked in advertising agencies and created campaigns for several brands, for the past 25 years, Ashok still gets excited about new briefs. After all, the creative business is: The most fun you can have with your clothes on.

Ashok has had the good fortune of working with interesting minds on rewarding brands: Sony Channel, Philips, Coca Cola, HDFC Bank, Van Heusen, Grand Hyatt, Kwality Ice Cream and Zandu to name a few.

His last assignment was in Africa with Lowe Kenya. Before that, Ashok had a long innings at Euro RSCG and has also done the rounds at Mudra, IB&W and Clarion Bates.

If not in advertising, Ashok would probably be a percussionist in Havana. In his free time, he paints. Ashok’s wife, Vrushali, has tolerated him for 20 years. And much to his regret, his children, Tanvi and Karan, are pursuing careers far away from advertising.

Harminder Kaur, Chief Strategy Officer

A postgraduate from MICA, Harminder has more than 8 years of experience in Media Planning with McCann Erickson, Lintas and MPG. She has handled media planning activities for clients like Gillete, MasterCard, LG and Reckitt Benckiser among others.

Sandy Pinto – Senior Vice President, Mumbai

A major in Zoology, Sandy realized very early in his career that his instincts could be put to better use in advertising.

Over the last nine years, he has worked on accounts like Mediascope (Financial Times & Khaleej Times), FIAT, Aditya Birla Group, Birla Asset Management Company, Birla Sun Life Insurance, Discovery Travel & Living, and Dimexon Diamonds Ltd. The last position held by him was that of Branch Head, Vyas Giannetti Creative, where he was instrumental in turning the agency into one of the most profitable independent agencies in India.

An avid Bollywood buff, Sandy spends his free time catching up with the latest hits in tinsel town. Few know that he can win any prawn-eating contest hands down! He is also a faithful worshipper of our India’s most popular religion: Cricket, and took his wicket-keeping at the last CAG cricket shield as seriously as his work.

Now, Sandy has enrolled in a gym and is looking to give Schwarzenegger a run for his money. His most recent project is motivating himself to actually turn up there.

Jyotindra Bagwadkar, Head Technology

With as many as 10 years experience in the online industry (3 years in eCommerce), Jyotindra has in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience in Client Side Scripting, Server Side Scripting and Web and Database Server Management: Client Server Architecture, Back-up Server Solutions, Windows IIS, Linux Apache, IBM Websphere, SSL Certificate Implementations.

As a Project Manager, Jyotin (as he is more popularly known) played a key role in eCommerce projects and also managed related activities including Discount Engines and Affiliate Marketing.

In his career span, Jyotin has created and facilitated the creation of over 150 websites. His expertise in website usability has empowered him to create user-centric systems that offer value for money to both, the clients he has worked with as well as the end users.

Bhavna Giani, Creative Director

When asked what she would be if she weren't a writer, Bhavna Giani said simply, "Dead." Bhavna has been blessed with the rare ability to befriend words. At her request, they come forth and shape themselves into ads, film scripts, websites, prose, poetry, short stories, articles, typography, and when Servicing doesn’t send in accurate briefs, strongly-worded emails too!

In her career spanning seven years, Bhavna has worked with India's leading online companies: Rediff.com and WebPercept. Currently Creative Director at Mediaturf, she ably builds and manages several brands: SBI Mutual Funds, Tata AIG, Lufthansa, Whereismyboss.com, Reliance Life Insurance, Religare and Toyota to name a few.

On weekends, Bhavna beats the heat of burning deadlines by taking long laps in the pool, studying the art of film-making and animation, and every now and then, sharpening her coloured pencils and sketching a landscape or abstract.