Kumuda Rao

Building brands and creating brand legends is what Kumuda believes her raison d'être in advertising is. And that’s what she’s done over the last couple of decades. From Mudra DDB, to Ogilvy, Y&R and Leo Burnett, she has worked on almost every category for mega clients such as P&G, Colgate, General Mills, Fiat, Heinz and Amazon across the Asia-Pacific region.

Her iconic ‘God’s Own Country’ campaign for Kerala Tourism turned this Indian state into a brand of its own. She launched one of India’s most memorable campaigns for P&G’s Tide. As the Regional and Global Creative Director for Rejoice Shampoo, she developed Effie award-winning communication through music marketing.

She has won nominations and awards both nationally and internationally. She was on the Clio 2019 Jury for Branded Entertainment and Content. At Ad Stars, 2019, she was part of the Final Jury for Print & Design and the President of the Young Stars jury. Earlier she was the President of the Print Jury for the Lisbon Ad Fest. She has directed ad films for the Indian and US market. She runs a beach hut resort in Goa and has just kick-started an online platform for part-time professionals called ‘Halfful’. But her pride and joy remains all the creative people she has mentored. All are now creative leaders – each one building brands and creating brand legends of their own.