McCann's Ritu Sharda joins ITSA as ECD

She will be based in Gurgaon.

ITSA has appointed Ritu Sharda as its executive creative director. Sharda brings with her 14 years of extensive industry experience. She started her career at Mudra in 2001 as a copywriter and then moved to Contract in 2003 as a senior copywriter. Later, she worked at McCann Erickson between 2004 and 2007. She joined Publicis India as creative director in 2008 and got promoted as executive creative director in 2014. Her last stint was at McCann as executive creative director.

Sharda has previously worked with Emmanuel Upputuru, creative chairman, ITSA, while working at Publicis India. She will be based in Gurgaon.

"ITSA has had a great year in numbers - both on paper and on stage. And we are in the middle of changing the gear, albeit very slowly and carefully. I am delighted to welcome Ritu to ITSA at this strategic moment in our journey. The advantage is that we have worked together before and we have some unfinished business. She is a real lion, and I am looking forward to some big campaigns that win the hearts of both Julie and Jury," says Upputuru.

"Emmanuel has been a great mentor for me. And many times after we stopped working, I wondered why. So, for me, ITSA is all about unlearning the usual and learning something new every day. Emmanuel has a sound effect for when someone cracks a good idea. Unfortunately, I can't put it on paper, but I am really hoping to hear a lot of it," Sharda says.

Previously, Sharda has worked on brands such as Coke, Perfetti, HP, Compaq, Microsoft, Mastercard, Monster.com, Dabur, GM, Maruti, HM, LG, Samsung, Maggi, HBO, Zee TV, McDonald's, Dr. Morepen, Iffco Tokio, Nestle Foods, Nestle Dairy and Nestle beverages.

ITSA is a two-year-old company, based in Gurgaon. The agency handles the creative duties of HCL Technologies, Sony, Oxigen mobile wallet, HCL Avitas, American Express, Intuit, DCM, and HomeBrain.