Gerson da Cunha: A marketing guru, a social activist, a theatre veteran

Gerson da Cunha, the legendary advertising professional, who headed the Lintas ad agency passed away at 92

Gerson da Cunha is no more. He belonged to an era when almost all ad agency leaders came with a strong theatre background. It helped. Clients were mesmerised with the way ad agencies presented their ideas. And they literally hung on to each word they had to say. But to his credit Gerson was one of the early pioneers to realise that a new breed of brand [and marketing] managers were emerging. Hindustan Lever was hiring MBAs and they were filling key positions in marketing.  Lintas, the agency Gerson ran was literally an extension of HLL and Lintas became one