Rekha Rao launches OON, a women-only A&M services collective

The industry veteran Rekha Rao has founded OON, touted as the world’s first women-led integrated marketing communications collective. Rao has nearly three decades of experience across fields including advertising, corporate communications, marketing communications, public relations, events, reputation management, sensitive communications, and campaign management. The agency has been named ‘OON’ as the word is said to be a dialectal variation meaning ‘one’ in British English.

The new agency will act as a platform for independent women professionals and entrepreneurs to collaborate and offer clients access to top-tier expertise across fields of advertising, communication, PR, and marketing. The collective includes marketers, entrepreneurs, strategists, journalists, content specialists, art directors, filmmakers, LGBTQAI+, PwD and sustainability advocates, digital marketers, influencers, practising professionals (doctors, lawyers, CAs, academicians), brand experts, corporate communication leaders, and just about any independent women professionals, but each with over 15 years of industry experience.

A collective of the 49.75% of the world that is women, OON aims to create shared opportunities for women while offering clients access to some of the finest professionals across industries, according to Rekha Rao, founder and CEO, OON.

“Over the years I have seen women navigating multiple challenges to thrive and succeed in the punishing marketing, media, and communications industry. Many with exceptional talent either quit or take a break from their careers, and then struggle to fit back. These talented and successful women with a wealth of potential and experience only need an opportunity. That inspired me to create something unique—a format that can bring women in touch with clients looking for expertise, experience, and dependability,” Rao said.

OON will curate expert teams tailored to specific client needs from its diverse pool of experts across areas such as design, advertising, PR, content, reputation management, digital marketing, policy, advocacy, inclusion, sustainability communications, crisis, internal communications, and employee engagement.

The key professionals comprising the OON Collective include Amee Sanghvi, creative and design strategist and creative brand partner at OON, the award-winning journalist Anusha Subramaniam who will be the content consultant, inclusion advocate, and strategic content counsel at OON, Gayatri Ramanathan, sustainability and ESG storytelling expert at OON, and Minari Shah, corporate and brand narratives – Building Leaders Of The Future, and corporate and C-suite reputation counsel at OON, among others. OON will also engage with many partners across the advertising, communication, and marketing domains.

Commenting on OON’s launch, the industry thought leader Roma Balwani and a mentor for the women-only collective, said, “Today’s world needs to humanise brands and create long-term impact. There also is a need to build frameworks for responsible business solutions that integrate high-impact social campaigns guided by transparency, ethics, and governance. Led by women professionals, OON houses diverse skills and experience with an ability to create a communication strategy that straddles public policy, brand campaigns, and reputation management. OON will provide solutions and mentoring to drive purpose-driven business strategy for CXOs and leadership teams of brands.”