StrawberryFrog ropes in Lowe's Arun Raman

Raman will be head of strategy for the agency.

Arun Raman, former executive vice-president, strategic planning, Lowe India, has joined Amsterdam-headquartered agency, StrawberryFrog India, as head of strategy. It may be recalled that StrawberryFrog set up its India operations in November, 2012.

Raman will lead the agency's new business development and create a planning culture aligned to the agency's "culture movements" differentiator. Raman will be based in Mumbai.

Hoping to create a cultural movement in the communications industry, Raman says, "Only then will we attract prospective colleagues who themselves will be true believers of our philosophy and culture." He adds that his job will be to find out precise problems faced by client brands and solving them.

Raj Kamble, managing partner, StrawberryFrog India, says, "It's an honour for us to have a solid strategic thinker like Arun on board. More than that, he is a great guy to work with, especially on the days when he tries to speak Marathi with a thick South Indian accent. With wide international experience, I am confident that he will bring a different sensibility and energy to the team."

Having more than 19 years of experience, Raman has worked on brands such as ICICI Prudential, Axis Bank, Johnson's Baby, Kissan, Knorr and Bajaj. He will also be in the core team handling Diageo and Unilever in Africa, and Marico and ITC in India.

Before Lowe Lintas, where he was lead practitioner of Lowe Worldwide Planning Toolkit, Raman was associated with DDB Mudra as vice-president. He was part of Lowe Scanad, Uganda, as managing director and has experience in working for markets in Kenya, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. He was also associated with Publicis Ambience and Grey Worldwide. Raman began his career with Lowe Lintas (then Lintas India) in 1995.