 | This biographical article is written like a résumé .(March 2020) |
Sunil John | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Public relations advisor |
| Awards | MEPRA (Middle East Public Relations Association) Fellowship Award 2018 Chairman's Award at MEPRA PR Awards 2016 SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement 2014 |
| Website | www |
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.
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 ]
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]
Karen Parfitt Hughes is the global vice chair of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. She served as the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of State and as a counsellor to President George W. Bush.
WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companies, which include advertising, public relations, media, and market research networks such as AKQA, BCW, CMI Media Group, Essence Global, Finsbury, Grey, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Mindshare, Ogilvy, Wavemaker, Wunderman Thompson, and VMLY&R. It is one of the "Big Four" agency companies, alongside Publicis, The Interpublic Group of Companies, and Omnicom Group. WPP has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Matthew John Carter is a former General Secretary of the British Labour Party, and now works in the public relations and communications consultancy industry.
Burson Cohn & Wolfe is a multinational public relations and communications firm, headquartered in New York City. In February 2018, parent WPP Group PLC announced that it had merged its subsidiaries Cohn & Wolfe with Burson-Marsteller into Burson Cohn & Wolfe.
Azad Moopen is an Indian healthcare entrepreneur. He is the developer of many healthcare facilities in Asia-Pacific. He is also the chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, a healthcare conglomerate in the Middle East and India founded in 1987.
PSB Insights is a consultancy firm founded in 1997 by Mark Penn and Douglas Schoen.
Nayla Al Khaja is the first female screenwriter, director, and producer in the United Arab Emirates,
Robert Stephen "Bob" Leaf was an American public relations executive. He is best known for creating the international network of offices which made Burson-Marsteller the world's largest public relations firm in the 1980s, where he eventually rose to be international chairman. Debrett's have recognised him as one of Britain's 500 most influential people.
Jawaharlal R. Gangaramani, is an Indian businessperson and the Partner of Al Fara'a Group which has presence in the UAE, Saudi Arabia & Oman. In 2010, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the field of social work.
Muhammed Ghassan Aboud is a Syrian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is one of the founding members of the Syrian Business Council and the Ghassan Aboud Group. Based in the United Arab Emirates, Aboud was listed in the 2018 issue of the Top 50 Most Influential Expats in the UAE by Forbes Middle East. In 2019, his net worth was estimated at $1.75 billion by Forbes magazine.
Mahesh Shahdadpuri is an Indian entrepreneur and founder of TASC Outsourcing, a staffing company in the Middle East headquartered in Dubai. He is the CEO of TASC Outsourcing and a director on the board of the Nikai group of companies. Over the years, he has received many accolades, including a Forbes ranking as one of the Top 100 Indian Business Owners in the Arab World, the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award 2016, and Innovator of the Year 2016 by Entrepreneur Middle East, among others.
CMC Connect Burson Cohn & Wolfe formerly known as CMC Connect Burson-Marsteller is a public relations firm. The company was founded in 1992 by Yomi Badejo Okusanya in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. In 2015, CMC Connect announced an exclusive affiliation with Burson-Marsteller, a global public relations agency which is now known as Burson Cohn & Wolfe.
Saeed Al Nazari is a United Arab Emirates (UAE) government official. He is the director general of the Federal Youth Authority, executive director of the youth at the UAE Prime Minister's Office, and chief strategy officer of the Arab Youth Center. During his career, he has overseen more than fifty national projects, including the development of the National Youth Agenda and the Emirati Youth Empowerment Model in the UAE. He was also the founder of two startups, Leo Production and Boost Consultancy.
Muna Easa Al Gurg is an Emirati businessperson and philanthropist. She is the Vice Chairperson and Director of Retail of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, a conglomerate headquartered in the United Arab Emirates.
Donald Aaron Baer is an American who has worked as a media lawyer, journalist, and a senior advisor to then-president Bill Clinton who was formerly Chairman of Burson Cohn & Wolfe. He was formerly the Worldwide Chair and CEO of Burson-Marsteller, a public relations firm, and is the current Chairman of the Board of PBS. Baer received his undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a masters in international relations at the London School of Economics, and a J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He and his wife, Nancy Bard, wed in 1987.
Union Properties is a real estate development company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The company was formed in 1987 as Union Property Private Limited, and was listed on the Dubai Financial Market in 1993. Previous projects include The Index apartment/office building in Dubai and Dubai Motor City.
Mike Fernandez is a business executive who has led communications, marketing, government relations and sustainability for a number of large companies. Fernandez also served as the US CEO for two agencies, Burson-Marsteller and Llorente y Cuenca. He was a full-time professor of practice at Boston University and an adjunct professor at several universities. He currently is the senior vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability at Enbridge which is headquartered in Calgary, AB, Canada.
Alain Bejjani is a Lebanese business executive.
The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August 13, 2020, concerned Israel and the UAE before the subsequent announcement of an agreement between Israel and Bahrain on September 11, 2020. On September 15, 2020, the signing of the agreements was hosted by US president Trump on the Truman Balcony of the White House amid elaborate staging intended to evoke the signings of historic formal peace treaties in prior administrations.
Abdallah Abu Sheikh is an Emirati businessman, founder of Astra Tech, and CEO of Botim.
