In the 1980s, setting up the Tara Sinha Associates made her the first woman to have set up a national advertising agency in India. It was by no mean feat. As time passed, the agency evolved into Tara Sinha McCann Erickson. There, she helped shape the communications for brands like Nescafe.
She had joined the world of advertising in the 1950s after a diploma in the subject from London. At the age of 23, she was the head of an agency that brought her to Bombay (now Mumbai) — Clarion.
Eventually, she found herself on the way to Atlanta, Georgia. Sinha was working with the Coca-Cola Export Corporation at this point. It was a big change in her life and the relocation to the USA was a fortunate move, she notes in her LinkedIn bio.
“Professionally, as well as personally, this move resulted in significant developments. Exposure to the world gave me the confidence to face challenges later,” she wrote. In 1984, she returned to India to run Clarion. To make this move, she was persuaded by both her veteran Clarion colleagues and friends and associates at McCann Erickson.
Then came one of the most challenging periods of her professional life as Clarion decided to ‘terminate’ her employment. It was a tricky move for though they sent her a legal notice but forgot to inform their associate and major MNC clients. This lapse led to the formation of Tara Sinha Associates that later went on to become TSME.
Two subsidiaries, Admar and Result were formed under TSME and branches were opened in Bombay, Calcutta, Bangalore, Madras and Kathmandu. After leading the agency for ten years, she left it to the McCanns.
The advertising fraternity mourns her loss.
RIP #Tarasinha the Iron Lady of Advertising #Tara_Sinha pic.twitter.com/vF0KhKGzmK
— Sutirtha (@sutirthadas) December 12, 2019
RIP Tara Sinha, inventor of the audio mnemonic. Remember the Nestle. Tat-atat-tat?
— R Srinivasan (@srinivasanravi) December 11, 2019
What an aura she had…Tara Sinha first Indian woman to set up an ad agency passes away. She was chairperson, IIMC too. This picture was taken during her farewell at IIMC and is very close to my heart. May her soul rest in peace ? pic.twitter.com/TKli2rzZVJ
— Dr. Anubhuti Yadav (@YadavAnubhuti) December 11, 2019
Tara Sinha, RIP. The First Lady of Indian advertising.
— Anant Rangaswami (@AnantRangaswami) December 11, 2019
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