Sunil John

Sunil John is the President – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) of BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), a top three global communications consultancy and part of WPP (NYSE : WPP). He is the Founder of ASDA’A BCW, the region’s leading PR consultancy. He also leads GCI Health Middle East, a specialist healthcare consultancy, Proof Communications, a specialist digital and design firm, and PSB Insights ME that offers research-based consultancy. All three are wholly-owned subsidiaries of ASDA’A BCW.

At the heart of the public relations business in the Middle East for over 25 years, Sunil founded ASDA’A in 2000 and has shaped its growth into the benchmark public relations consultancy in the Arab world, advising governments, multinationals and global & local companies. In 2008, WPP Group acquired majority stake in the firm.

Sunil was the first PR professional in the Middle East to receive the Outstanding Individual Achievement SABRE Award (EMEA) from The Holmes Report, in May 2014. Sunil was named the Best PR Professional in the Middle East by PRWeek Global Awards in May 2020. He was honoured with the MEPRA Fellowship Award in May 2018 and the Chairman’s Award at the Middle East PR Awards (MEPRA) in November 2016.

In July 2021, Sunil was nominated as an Advisory Board Member of the Dubai International Chamber, a newly formed entity to strengthen Dubai’s status as a global trade hub.

Sunil has been the driver behind the annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey, a unique thought leadership initiative started in 2008 and today, is one of the most widely cited pieces of public opinion research on the region by media and policymakers across the world.