Search THE READING ROOM

Friday, May 23, 2014

The inspirational story of the ad guru who brought the world's No. 1 agency to India

By far the best book I have read about the advertising business in India, Konjo: Fighting Spirit is a great buy at almost any price. At only Rs.199 (on Amazon, at the time of writing), it is a steal.

Sandeep Goyal is the man who brought Dentsu, the world's No. 1 ad agency, headquartered in Tokyo, to India. His story is an inspirational one, and for media students and young ad professionals who crave industry insights from a consummate insider, this book will prove invaluable with its thrill-a-minute revelations about some of the country's most famous ad campaigns (to name a few: Tata Tea, Toyota Innova, HDFC Life) and the people behind them; about the ad pitches that worked and the ones that didn't; and about the strategies used by Dentsu India to win new clients.

MAVERICK: SANDEEP GOYAL

The story Goyal tells us in Konjo concerns only his seven-year association, in the form of a joint venture, with Dentsu. When he sold his stake to the parent company, he became richer by millions of dollars, leaving him free to pursue his many interests: according to the author bio in Konjo, Goyal is now writing his PhD thesis on "Human Brands". But I am hoping he will write at least two more books, one about the time he spent with Rediffusion, one of India's iconic ad agencies, and one more about his stint as Group CEO of Zee Telefilms. Going by the impressive insights gleaned from Konjo, can you imagine what a stimulating experience it would be to read these two books?

No comments:

Post a Comment