Menaka leads DDB Mudra’s strategic offering out of its office in Bengaluru. Her career of 22 years, of which 15 have been in the advertising industry, has seen her manage offices and P&Ls over and above business strategy and design strategy.
She sees advertising as a field with the power to drive change and impact culture. While she found immense success in other industries, the gravitational pull of advertising and strategy influenced her return. A true-blue strategist at heart, she believes in empowering consumers with the right information so they can make the right, informed choice for themselves.
Menaka’s advertising career has seen her work with prestigious agencies like FCB Ulka, Wunderman Thompson (JWT) and Leo Burnett Orchard, where she served as EVP & Branch Head. Outside of advertising she has worked with BIG 92.7 FM, served as Business Head – UTV New Media, and Chief Strategy Officer – Pensaar Design.
In her past stint as Lead – Udhyam Vyapar at Udhyam Learning Foundation, she led a vertical that worked with nano entrepreneurs. The challenge was to scale out a successful pilot with ironing entrepreneurs, wherein a shift from coal to LPG as an input fuel could lead to a 27% increase in their monthly earnings. Solving for this as a market transformation, by working with the retail ecosystem to deliver the push while simultaneously creating a pull among the entrepreneurs, is one of her proudest achievements.