Wikipedia

Sunil John

Sunil John is the founder of ASDA'A BCW and President - Middle East of BCW[1][2][3] owned by the $20.7 billion WPP Group.

Sunil John
NationalityIndian
OccupationBusinessman
Known forPublic relations advisor
AwardsMEPRA (Middle East Public Relations Association) Fellowship Award 2018

Chairman's Award at MEPRA PR Awards 2016

SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement 2014
Websitewww.asdaa-bcw.com

Personal life

edit

John earned his bachelor's degree in science (1980) and master's degree in communication and journalism (1982) from Osmania University, Hyderabad.[citation needed] He started his career as an investigative journalist with the Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, before moving into the public relations sector with the Indian Oil Corporation in Mumbai and then with Thermax in Pune. He moved to Dubai, UAE, in 1994 to join the nascent PR sector in the Middle East region.[citation needed]

Career

edit

John has been in the communication and public relations business for nearly three decades,[4] including the last 25 years in the Middle East region. John founded ASDA'A in 2000, which merged with the global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller in 2008 to form ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, majority owned by the $20.7 billion WPP Group, a global communication holding company. After the merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe in February 2018, ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller is now ASDA'A BCW.[5] John continues to be a significant shareholder in the firm.

ASDA'A BCW has 8 wholly owned offices and seven affiliates covering 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. ASDA'A BCW was named "Middle East Consultancy of the Year 2019" at the EMEA SABRE 2019 Awards by The Holmes Report.[6][7] ASDA’A BCW was also named “PR Agency of the Year – Middle East and Africa 2019” at the International Business Awards by Stevie Awards and a ‘Grand Stevie’ for ranking third among the ‘Top 10 Honoured Organizations’ globally.[8]

John received the SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement (EMEA)[9][10][11][12][excessive citations] from The Holmes Report on 20 May 2014. He is the first PR professional from the Middle East to be honoured with this prestigious global award. He was also honoured with the MEPRA Fellowship Award[13][14] on 10 May 2018 and the Chairman's Award 2016[15][16][17] at the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) Awards on 23 November 2016. He has been listed on the "Arabian Business 100 Inspiring leaders in the Middle East" in March 2018[18] and "Arabian Business 100 influential people helping shape the Emirate" in May 2018.[19]

In 2018, John said that one of the few industries where truth, facts, honesty and evidence are positively thriving is public relations[20] and urged all PR practitioners to adopt the universal PR Compact based on four simple tenets – insist on accuracy, demand transparency, engage in the free and open exchange of ideas and require everyone to take universal online ethics training.[21]

Since 2008, John leads the annual ASDA'A BCW Arab Youth Survey – the largest survey of its kind of the Middle East region's largest demographic. The 11th annual Arab Youth Survey was launched on April 30, 2019.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] [29][30][31][excessive citations]

John chaired the organizing committee of the 20th Public Relations World Congress held in Dubai from 13 to 15 March 2012.[32]

John previously served as the UAE National Chair of International Public Relations Association and vice president of the IPRA Gulf Chapter.

John also served as a director at DAR Motion Pictures, an India-based movie production and distribution company that has produced a dozen feature films. The Lunchbox, co-produced by John,[33] won the Critics Week Viewers' Choice Award at Cannes Film Festival.[34]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Burson Cohn & Wolfe Names Regional Leadership Following Merger". The Holmes Report. 6 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Sunil John appointed President, Middle East at Burson Cohn & Wolfe". Zawya. 7 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Sunil John appointed President of Burson Cohn & Wolfe in Middle East". Arabian Business. 7 March 2018.
  4. ^ "People | Sunil John". Arabian Business.
  5. ^ "WPP announces the merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe". WPP.
  6. ^ "2019 Middle East Consultancies of the Year". The Holmes Report. May 2019.
  7. ^ "ASDA'A BCW named 'Middle East Consultancy of the Year' at the EMEA SABRE 2019 Awards". Eye of Dubai. 28 May 2019.
  8. ^ "ASDA'A BCW wins second PR Agency of the Year title in 2019". Arabian Business. 22 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Sunil John To Receive Individual Achievement SABRE In London". The Holmes Report. 11 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Outstanding achievement PR award for Sunil John". The Arabian Post.
  11. ^ "ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller CEO honoured with SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement". Zawya. 15 May 2014.
  12. ^ "Asda'a CEO honoured with Sabre Award". Khaleej Times. 24 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Founder and CEO of PR agency ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, Sunil John, awarded MEPRA Fellowship". Arab Ad. 14 May 2018.
  14. ^ "Who has been awarded the MEPRA Fellowship?". Campaign Middle East. 14 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Sunil John takes home Chairman's Award at Middle East PR Awards". Arabian Business. 25 November 2016.
  16. ^ "PR awards pick the winners for this year". Gulf News. 29 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Sunil John takes home Chairman's Award at Middle East PR Awards 2016". Khaleej Times. 24 November 2016.
  18. ^ "100 Inspiring leaders in the Middle East". Arabian Business. March 2018.
  19. ^ "100 influential people helping shape the Emirate". Arabian Business. May 2018.
  20. ^ "The year ahead for Public Relations". Campaign Middle East. 25 January 2018.
  21. ^ "The business of PR can help with the truth". Gulf News. 27 February 2018.
  22. ^ "Arab youths want religion to play a smaller role in society". CNBC. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  23. ^ "Sunil John's interview on Bloomberg Daybreak: Middle East". Bloomberg. 8 May 2018.
  24. ^ "Sunil John's interview on CNN Connect the World". CNN. 13 May 2018.
  25. ^ "Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy will join experts to debate findings of the 10th ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey". Zawya. 6 May 2018.
  26. ^ "Arab youth feel region 'has gone in the wrong direction' in last 10 years, survey finds". CNBC. 8 May 2018.
  27. ^ "Young Arabs see UAE as role model; Middle East youth divided by access to opportunity". Gulf News. 3 May 2017.
  28. ^ "The Arab World's Global Citizens". Huffington Post. 5 June 2014.
  29. ^ "Find ways to let young people fulfill their hopes". The National. 11 April 2013.
  30. ^ "The Voice of Arab Optimism". Huffington Post. 23 June 2013.
  31. ^ "Arab youth aspire to live and work in UAE". Gulf News. 2 May 2012.
  32. ^ "UAE to host 20th Public Relations World Congress". Khaleej Times. 27 September 2011.
  33. ^ "The Lunchbox's Dubai Connection". Masala. 11 December 2013.
  34. ^ "Ritesh Batra's Lunchbox wins Critics Week Viewers Choice Award at Cannes Film Festival 2013". India Today. 24 May 2013.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sunil John.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sunil_John&oldid=1225672357"