By A Correspondent
- V Ramani
August 1, 2012 will be remembered as a sad day for digital media as V Ramani, the man who championed the sector way before most others, , passed away. A prayer meeting will be held in his memory at 6pm on August 3 at the Bombay Tamil Sangham Hall in Sion in Mumbai.
Mr Ramani worked as a media professional for nearly three decades, with years of experience in advertising with stints at Lintas, Draftfcb Ulka, McCann Ericsson, Contract and Euro RSCG.
Mr Ramani helped establish Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and was also the first Indian Cyber Jury Member at the Cannes. He is the Co-founder, Ignitee, and also the man behind the first ever branded programmes (Surf Mashoor, Philips Top 10).
In 2011 he launched Pariental Innovative Solutions, a full service cross media consultancy and planning company, along with Harminder K Datta as co-founder and principal consultant.
Remembering Mr Ramani, Ravi Deshpande, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Contract Advertising said: “From what I recollect during my brief interaction with V. Ramani at Contract, he was truly a passionate person and a professional who would always be committed to the task at hand. Sadly, today media industry has lost an important contributor.”
Ishan Raina, MD and CEO, OOH Media remembers Mr Ramani as an outstanding mediaperson and a loyal friend: “He was an outstanding media person with a high degree of intelligence, and a loyal and an emotional friend. He would be remembered for a lot of path breaking initiatives, right from Philips Top 10 which is the first sponsored programme on television 25 years ago to various internet initiatives. But he would also be remembered as a good friend.”
Said Atul Hegde, CEO, Ignitee Digital Services: “V Ramani was a true trailblazer, always pushing the boundaries to see new ideas come to light. He gave us gems like Philips Top 10; was the first jury member at Cannes for the digital category and always had an eye for great talent. He mentored many a career in the media industry and will always be remembered for making the media function in an ad agency ‘Creative’.”
Even Twitter was abuzz after media professionals heard about Mr Ramani passing away, Former CMO, Tata Teleservices, Lloyd Mathias tweeted: “RIP V Ramani. A man who embraced digital long before it became fashionable.”
Karthik Nagarajan, National Director, Social and Insights, Group M tweeted: “Just heard about V Ramani. Feel genuinely down. Rarely happens with someone you knew only professionally.”
Lakshmipathy Bhat, Advertising Professional, New Media Enthusiast, Vice President, Draftfcb+Ulka -Â Bangalore tweeted: “Ad Industry veteran V Ramani passes away – he was one of the earliest in the digital space inIndia. Sad.”
Dhunji S Wadia, President, Everest Brand Solutions, tweeted: “Sad to hear the news of V Ramani. RIP.”
Faisal Farooqui, Founder – CEO, Mouthshut.com tweeted: “RIP. Ramani was one of the first who loved Mouthshut. Will miss him.”