Ram Ray – Giant of Indian Advertising passes away

“What has sustained my sanity through 52 years in Marketing and Advertising is an abiding interest in pro bono social projects,” that’s what Ram Ray had written about himself on his Linkedin profile. For the bigger world, he was one of the finest creative minds who has been often referred to by stalwarts like Ramchandra Guha as the giant of Indian advertising.

The Chairman of the Response Group, Ray had over 40 years of experience working with JWT India and USA, Clarion (Bates) and Response. Advertising was only part of his repertoire. ‘He was as involved with the workings of a Yale lock as he was with the newly launched Apple desktop publishing equipment,’ Suhel Seth had once wrote with all his humour in his column. 

Indeed, for generations working in the advertising world, Ram Ray literally was an icon. He was also a class apart, a quintessential intellectual Bengali Bhadrolok who appreciated everything classy -- from tangential thinking to tequila drinking. From appreciating fine wine to figuring out where one gets the best jhal muri in Kolkata. In 2014, a Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on Ray by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry for his contributions to the field of advertising. He was also the founder of Kolkata’s Wysiwyg Communications and the co-founder of Ray+Keshavan Design Associates in Bangalore.