Meet the
core team

Sachi Mukerji

Sachi Mukerji

CEO & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

His creative work with some of the best known global agencies has won awards in direct marketing and mainstream advertising in four continents. Sachi started his ad agency career in India before working as a writer and creative director in Sydney and London for 13 years and, eventually, Toronto. After holding top management positions in three successful mainstream agencies, SMW, BBDO and Grey Canada, he turned his focus to multicultural marketing with the goal of providing a more structured and strategically disciplined agency option. Sachi is the President and Creative Director of the agency he founded. He is responsible for building one of the strongest agency teams in ethnic marketing and plays a hands-on role in all strategic and client matters. Working in advertising in India, the UK and Canada has given Sachi a unique insight and perspective on diversity and multicultural marketing.

     

Ramesh Nilakantan

MANAGING DIRECTOR & PARTNER

Ramesh started his advertising career in India and after two decades, moved to Dubai and then Canada. His experience spans all facets of Client Management with some of the world’s most respected agencies – BBDO, Lowe & Partners, McCann Erickson and Publicis. During his career, he has developed communications for well-known brands like Coca-Cola, SONY, Vodafone, Henkel and BMW. Ramesh is a strong strategic thinker and an exceptional client services professional. Apart from being part of the team that won India’s first award at Cannes, he has headed agency teams in Canada that have consistently been awarded by Marketing Magazine for creative excellence in multicultural communications. Ramesh has also been a frequent speaker at multicultural conferences and seminars in Toronto.

Ramesh Nilakantan
Bill Coristine

Bill Coristine

PARTNER, STRATEGY & PLANNING

Natural curiosity fuels Bill’s insatiable urge to dig deep for consumer insights. And two decades of experience give him the perspective to spot the golden nuggets. Bill has led strategic planning on numerous national brands across the telecommunications, financial-services, consumer-products, business-to-business and non-profit sectors. During his years in mainstream agencies, he developed a solid track record for uncovering valuable insights among ethnic consumer groups for clients like Sprint and RBC. Bill is past chair of the Integrated Marketing Communications Council of the Canadian Marketing Association and member of the CMA Board of Directors. Bill has held senior management positions in some of Canada’s leading direct marketing agencies. He is also a co-founder of the agency.

Penelope Chow

Penelope Chow

CLIENT SERVICES DIRECTOR

After graduating from Ryerson University in Marketing, Penelope started her career in multicultural advertising working as a client servicing executive on Rogers Communications and Panasonic. Soon she moved to work on the client side with Bell Canada which included Channel Management, Direct and Product Marketing. Penelope returned to China in 2009 to work, teach, and study, completing her MBA and expanding her roster of client management to international hotel brands such as Hilton, Accor, MGM and Mandarin Oriental. She plays a key role in strategic and creative development at Monsoon while managing some of our Tier 1 accounts.

sarthak Kawatra

Sarthak Sharma

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

If brands can move beyond boundaries, why can’t people? Sarthak Sharma, our new Account Director, is one more example of a transplanted advertising executive from New Delhi who has adopted Canada as his new home - and Monsoon for his new career. He brings a wide range of experiences and learnings from India where his work experience included network agencies like McCann, DDB and Leo Burnett while working on several iconic global brands including Coca-Cola, Reckitt Benckiser, Reebok, Perfetti Van Melle, HBO and Yamaha. Sarthak is a multi-talented individual who combines the insights of a strategic planner, the imagination of a creative thinker and the disciplined work ethic of an Account Director. He currently handles Air Canada, Loblaw Group (No Frills and RCSS) and T-fal.

Sharon Song

Sharon Song

MANAGER, CHANNEL STRATEGY

Born and raised in China, Sharon started her advertising career in client services at Leo Burnett Greater China working on the McDonald’s account. Two years later, she transferred over to the creative department as a copywriter for P&G, MacDonald’s, Kellogg’s, Coca-Cola and Danone. In 2005, she immigrated to Canada and started her new career at a multicultural advertising agency as an Account Manager for Western Union and the CRA. Seeing the growing power of online media to connect 1-on-1 with consumers, Sharon soon enrolled at University of Toronto and gained certification in Digital Marketing Management. She joined Monsoon in 2016 and is currently focused on developing channel strategies for our clients as well as media planning and buying.

Richard Lee

Richard Lee

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL DESIGN

Richard has planned, designed and developed websites and other online platforms for more than 12 years. His expertise spans user interface design, content management, loyalty and referral programs, online ordering, e-commerce and email marketing. The major brands he has worked on include Kraft, Benjamin Moore, Public Mobile, RIM, LG and Scotiabank. With his deep technical proficiency and broad experience supporting national marketing programs, Richard ensures clients communicate their messages quickly and effectively in the rapidly moving online environment. Richard’s contributions are integral to Monsoon’s overall ability to meet its client’s online marketing challenges.