NEW DELHI. Demonstrating its commitment to securing a larger role in the fast growing South Asian economy, Ruder Finn, which is one of the world’s largest independent public relations firms, has opened its first office in India.

With its head office located in New Delhi, Ruder Finn India has made two key hires to drive its expansion: Radha Roy and Shruti Das. As country head, Roy reports to Ruder Finn Asia Pacific chairman Jean-Michel Dumont.

Ruder Finn has already bagged the retainer account for Automobili Lamborghini for this region. Ruder Finn India team has also successfully undertaken projects to help drive communication mandates for some key global names in the Pharma and not-for-profit sector.

Roy has over sixteen years of experience in public relations, communication and advocacy. Her expertise includes strategic counsel, promotional campaigns, corporate social responsibility programs, media and presentation skills training, crisis and issues management and marketing and business planning for clients in the corporate and not-for-profit sector. She has counselled and represented leading corporations like PepsiCo, Max Newyork Life, Danone, Dr Reddy’s, Thomson, Timken and ITC in Kolkata,Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. She has also worked for many years on campaigns for child rights.

Das, account director, has more than 10 years of experience in marketing & communication. Having undertaken cross-functional roles such as Marketing, Business Development, and Public Relations, she now specialises in strategic planning, development and execution of integrated communications programs. In her previous assignments, she managed communication mandates for organisations like Microsoft, Oracle, NetApp, HTC, ZTE and Unicef.

“On the heels of our record-level revenues and earnings for the 2010 fiscal year, combined with market demand, it was a logical next step for us to expand our presence to a new part of the world,” said Ruder Finn Inc. CEO Kathy Bloomgarden. “A presence in India will benefit our increasing number of multinational clients throughout North America, Europe and Asia by leveraging the synergies between business units, assisting in securing new opportunities and providing regional support to their existing global customer base.”

‘Khushiyaan Ruder Finn, Inc. is one of the largest independent integrated communication firms in the world, with offices in the United States and Europe, as well as in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Delhi in Asia. Through these offices and affiliates worldwide, the agency serves the global and local communication needs of over 250 corporations, governments and non-profit organisations.