By Indrani Sen
Ad industry veteran Dwipal Kumar Bose, known as DK expired suddenly due to a huge heart attack on early morning of October 9. Bose was 76 years’ old and had over 50 years of experience in the industry across Media Planning, Social & Rural Marketing and Advocacy Research.
After graduating from Elphinstone College in Mumbai, he started his career with S.H. Benson, the parent company of Ogilvy. He rose in ranks while working in Mumbai and Kolkata offices of Ogilvy (O&M) during the 70s and early 80s and joined HTA (JWT) Delhi as Media Director in 1984. He shifted from media to social and rural marketing first as head of Thompson Social, India’s first Social Communication Agency and subsequently worked with RK Swamy BBDO and Ogilvy Outreach. In this time, Bose trained many Media Planners and Social and Rural Marketing Executives, who later attained important posts in the industry. After his retirement from the industry, Bose has been working as an advisor and strategist in the area of Behavioural Change Communication in the area of health and primary education. His LinkedIn profile described him as “Margdarshak and advisor on Rural and Social Marketing”. He was a Founder Trustee for Centre of Advocacy Research for 20 tears and was awarded with the Lifetime achievement award from Rural Marketing Association of India.
Bose taught at IIMC as visiting faculty for many years and currently was associated with IIM Lucknow and Kozhikode and Jamia Milia University as visiting faculty. Early this year, he published his autobiography “Life Unstoppable: Making Challenges Work for you” as an e-book on amazon. Bose loved travelling to interior India and to the small towns and villages of Himalayas and he breathed his last during his sleep at McLeod Ganj surrounded by the hills he loved. Bose will be remembered among his friends and associates for his caring nature, his passion for learning and teaching and his awesome energy.