Sunil Gupta pens down his 23 years at JWT

'Living on the "adge" in Jhande Walan Thompson' by Sunil Gupta, managing partner, South Asia Results International Group, is all about his 23 year journey in the world of advertising

Ad man, actor, director, quiz master, cricket commentator and TV anchor -Sunil Gupta, managing partner, South Asia Results International Group, has always been a multifaceted personality. Now, he is all set to start a new innings as a writer, with his new publication, Living on the 'adge' in Jhande Walan Thompson.

The book has been published by Roli Books and is available in all leading bookstores across the country.

It is a memoir of Sunil Gupta's 23 year journey at JWT. "It's a pun on life in JWT. It's not a case study or a preachy book on advertising and branding but a pun on my days spent in the ad agency. I joined JWT as a management trainee in 1978 and left as the executive vice-president in 2002. For all these years, I have come across scores of exciting incidents and bumped into a hundred odd interesting characters - who deserved to be penned down in the form of a book," says Gupta.

Sunil Gupta pens down his 23 years at JWT

Although Gupta has always loved writing, the book was a conscious effort to bridge the gap created by the absence of any comprehensive book focusing on the nuances of the ad world. "All the ad related books available in the market tell you about brand campaigns, marketing and branding strategies but fail to provide an insight into the real world of advertisement. This is where I wanted to pitch in and tell the people about how this ad world, which otherwise looks so glamorous from outside, functions from within.

"Who makes this ad world, how they work, the kind of mistakes they make and the lessons learnt thereby - all these have mention in my latest publication. Living on the adge... is all about the ad world, about the people within it, about how brands are built and about human relationships. Indeed, it has immense human interest value," says Gupta.

To start with, the book reportedly has a fresh manuscript and casts almost all the who's who of the advertising and marketing industry. The style of writing is marked with inimitable description and hilarious narratives. Also, the book records the history of the growth and development of an increasingly important and yet, largely unknown sector - the advertising industry.

Gupta's keen observation of people and situations around him and his unique style of writing is in store for the readers. He adds that readers will surely enjoy his original use of language and metaphor. Also, according to Gupta, it has all the ingredients which readers can laugh about, admire and ponder over.

The book has been highly praised by personalities such as Mukul Kesavan and Jug Suraiya, who say that it is a fresh fun piece after years.

The book is targeted at both industry insiders and regular readers. According to Gupta, the industry people will enjoy reading it as the book showcases certain revelations and regular readers will get an insight of the ad world, which has always been a mystery to them.

In a conversation with afaqs!, Gupta admitted that he has already started planning his next publication, which will be a fiction.

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