50 YEARS OF INDIAN ADVERTISING

A Snapshot

The Golden Era 1975-1984

In 1975 when Tapas Gupta started his career in India’s 2nd largest Agency Clarion, advertising was at its glamorous best. The world of Advertising was a classy concoction of glitz, snob value & high lifestyle with accented English being the prime mode of communication. Going for a quick drink at an elite Bar or a posh Club during lunch time and downing a few neat pegs was a status statement.
And large agencies like Clarion, HTA, Lintas were fertile training grounds for rookies like Tapas. These 10 years in Clarion shaped & defined Tapas’s career & life.
Bombay and Calcutta were the joint capitals of the advertising industry and most large businesses had their HQs in these 2 cities. The best of advertising professionals too were located there
Celebrities in advertising were of a different kind. Towering personalities like Subhash Ghoshal, Aleque Padamsee, Subrata Sen Gupta, Tara Sinha, S R (Mani) Ayer ruled the Indian advertising landscape for over 2 decades. Tapas had the opportunity in his early career to interact with most of them and imbibe knowledge and wisdom from the stalwarts
15% agency commission was the norm, never challenged by any client. Ad agencies were thriving and recruiting the best talents from the IIMs, XLRI through campus interviews. Salaries paid by large ad agencies in these days matched or even exceeded those of large MNCs and marque Indian companies. This period built some of the best advertising professionals for the next 3 decades.

The Next Era (1985-1990)

Labour problems started plaguing Calcutta from the early 1980s. Militant trade-unionism & strikes in commercial organisations started ruining the business environment of the city. Flight of capital stated impacting the state’s economy. Large corporations like Nestle, Lipton, Brooke Bond, Reckitt & Colman & many more began relocating in different cities like Delhi & Bangalore.
Trade unionism did not even spare Clarion, the largest ad agency in Calcutta at that time. It imploded with workers and shareholders demanding their way for greater say in the management. Clarion started breaking up into several splinters, and soon became a pale shadow of the past.
Hounded by labour unrest, Tapas who was the Branch Manager left Clarion and started Tara Sinha Associates (TSA- later TSME) in Calcutta with a large team and key Clarion clients like Reckitt, Nestle, Keo Karpin brands (Dey’s Medical) and Taj Bengal also moved their businesses to TSA/TSME. Under his stewardship TSME in 1989 became the 3rd largest agency in Calcutta and was awarded ‘The Agency of the Year’ Award in 1990 by Advertising Club, Calcutta.

A New City, A New Dawn (1991-1997)

With Nestle & Reckitt & Colman shifting their HQs to Delhi, Tapas relocated to Delhi as Sr. VP & Director Corporate heading TSME’s Delhi & Kolkata offices. For Tapas, it was a new city, a new life – of possibilities, of dreams, of career-making. The sudden surge in Delhi’s business potential was primarily at Calcutta’s cost, and by the mid-90’s, Delhi started vying to become India’s joint business capital.
Global MNC giants like Gillette, Coca Cola, Levis, Perfetti, Durex and many world leaders entered India during these 4 years. Delhi soon became the epicentre of these companies. And many of them landed in the TSME (later McCann Erickson India) basket due to global M-E alignments.
The advertising business was vastly transforming itself post 1991 economic liberalisation. International agency networks like Havas, Publicis, Dentsu, Saatchi & Saatchi, W&K, BBDO, TBWA, entered India large agency groups like McCann-Erickson, Lintas, Leo Burnett, JWT, Y&R, FCB and soon became 100% global group owned agencies in India.
Indian advertising, now dominated by MNC holding companies, brought in their specialised Media, Events, PR arms as separate entities and these proliferated in numbers and specialisations vying for niches from large clients.
TSME became McCann Erickson India in 1994/95 and Tapas continued leading Delhi & Calcutta offices during & post the transition. In 1996 he was elevated to head McCann’s first joint-venture in India – PSL Universal McCann with M&M, as the President and CEO.
PSL Universal McCann’s resounding success under Tapas Gupta’s leadership, winning the coveted US-based Brown Forman (Jack Daniels & Forester whisky), Automotive and Tractors brands from M&M, GTC, STG became a talking point in the industry. With a series of previous track records in starting up agencies from a scratch, Tapas Gupta soon became known as the ‘Start-up Specialist’ in the McCann Global system and in the advertising industry in India.

Dare to Dream, Dare to Do (1998-2014)

The ‘bug’ of starting something of his own, for himself and leaving a lasting legacy in the advertising industry in India, had started playing in his mind. In 1998, Tapas Gupta started his own venture Confluence Communication with a few trusted team members from his erstwhile agency, and soon a number of large PSL McCann businesses like STG, GTC, B-F and a few more in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai became Confluence’s founder businesses.
The big breakthrough in Confluence’s early years in 2001 was the win of the Sahara business including their flagship Air Sahara, the second largest private airlines in that era. With this, along with some other big business, BEI Confluence started growing from strength to strength in its formative years.
It was during these years Digital advertising starting evolving and agency leaders like Tapas saw a revolutionary medium to create a one-to-one consumer engagement in a ‘two-way communication’. This transformative and game-changing communication medium became a rage with all big advertisers and specialized digital agencies started sprouting up. BEI Confluence was one of the first fully Indian agencies who started a Digital wing to support clients in their digital communication framework.
BEI Confluence celebrated its 15th Anniversary in 2013 with aplomb as by then the agency was a force to reckon it and its size, stature and quality of creative work started getting acclaim from the industry particularly in the North.

Powering the dream (2015-2024)

BEI Confluence attained maturity, stature & size and started getting known in North India as one of the largest fully Indian, independent & integrated advertising agencies with a bouquet of reputed brands some of them being brand leaders in their categories. The mix of brands clearly demonstrated the core competence of the agency as an FMCG & Consumer Facing Brands agency.
With the Digital communication landscape re-inventing itself almost every passing year, BEI Confluence went for a JV with a leading technology group to launch GroX, a deep-tech organisation that provided hi-tech digital solutions for its clients. This JV Company GroX offered through BEI, specialised & comprehensive end-to-end digital communications solution including Performance Marketing, E-Com / Q-Com led marketing strategies, high-end E-Com enabled website, specialised App development.
BEI Confluence moved to its very own, large & swanky new office at the FBD ONE in March 2022. In 2023, the Agency celebrated its Silver Jubilee with a bang. The business continues to grow with a number of big brands are being won in competitive pitches. BEI now rubs shoulders in pitches with the MNC agencies known to be the Big Boys of the business and wins in many pitches. The Silver Jubilee year ended with BEI registering a 15% growth in revenue and 100%+ growth in PAT. Ambitious targets are set for the next two FYs.
Tapas Gupta, CMD, is conferred with the ‘Marketing & Advertising Person of the Year’ in March 2024 for his Lifetime Contribution to the profession. Abhishek Gupta is elevated as Joint MD of BEI and Shahid Husain, a leading creative professional joined the Agency as National Creative Director (NCD) to oversee and lead the Agency creative initiatives, which is the core to the business.

Fast forward to the Future

The face & the DNA of advertising agencies are undergoing rapid & transformative changes, with new game-changers like AI, VR/AR tools available to assist & enhance human endeavours. And BEI is constantly endeavouring to stay ahead of the curve. However technology has always been and will continue to support the human mind to communicate the Big Idea in a compelling and disruptive fashion. The basics of the communication industry will never change.
BEI is regularly re-inventing itself to be Future Ready, and this continues to be the only constant for the agency in this rapidly changing communications universe. Big plans are on the anvil to catapult BEI Confluence to the top 3 fully Indian owned independent & integrated agencies in India by 2026.

Tapas Gupta: Unbroken working life of 50 years

23

Years in McCann Group companies

Clarion Advertising (earlier Clarion McCann)- 11 years. TSM-E ( Tara Sinha McCann Erickson)- 8 years. McCann- Erickson India- 2 years. PSL McCann Erickson ( JV between M&M & M-E) – 2 years

27

Years

in BEI Confluence (& continuing)

04

Cities

Worked in Kolkata, Delhi, Kathmandu, Hong Kong

Tapas Gupta: Career Highlights (1975-2025)

Advertising Training Course

Attended two weeks Advertising Training Programme in 1972 organised by Advertising Club, Calcutta. Conducted by three doyens of advertising of that era- Subhash Ghoshal, Mani Ayer and Sanat Lahiri. This inaugural Course became a reputed yearly program from the next year onwards.

IIM, Ahmedabad

Sponsored by Clarion in a month-long Marketing Course in 1980 on ‘Product Policy & New Product Management’ by Prof. Late Labhdi Bhandari.

Asian Institute of Management (AIMS), Manila ( Philippines)

Sponsored by McCann Erickson, participated in a month-long competitive Course MOSS (Marketing & organisational Skills), exclusively designed for M-E international professionals in 1984. Stood 1st amongst 50 senior marketing professionals from APAC region of M-E.

International experience

Worked as a team leader in M-E Hong Kong on a three month deputation as Co-ordinator on Nestle for the APAC countries across Asia.

Set-up TSA/TSME, Calcutta in 1987

When Clarion broke up, started from a scratch - moving senior professionals & large accounts like Dey’s-Keo Karpin, Reckitt & Colman, Bata & Taj Group. In two years TSME, Calcutta became the third largest Ad Agency office in the city.

Set up TSME/M-E’s Kathmandu office in 1989

After winning San Miguel Beer and Coca-Cola Nepal Businesses, set up the Kathmandu office.

Moved to TSME Delhi in 1991 to take charge

Stabilized 3 key M-E global businesses - Nestle, Gillette, Reckitt & Colman, while continuing to oversee Calcutta & Kathmandu offices.

M-EW Global elevates Tapas in 1996

To head M-E’s first JV agency in India- PSL McCann, a JV between M-E & M&M.

Started Confluence Communication (later BEI Confluence) in 1998

Own entrepreneurial venture with a breakaway team from PSL McCann & M-E India. Has been leading BEI Confluence for last 26 years from a start-up to one of the largest fully Indian owned 360 communication agencies in India.

Co-author of THE MAD AD YEARS

Published in 2021 it’s India’s first Advertising Fiction and one of the largest selling Advertising books in last five years.

Regular feature writer and Speaker in leading Marketing & Ad

in leading journals and websites and visiting Faculty in Management institutes, CII and other industry forums

Conferred with the ‘Marketing & Advertising Person of the Year, 2024

For Lifetime contribution to the Marketing & Advertising profession.

Bei Confluence is the dream child of Tapas Gupta & Chabi Roy Gupta. Founded by Tapas & Chabi in 1998 as an entrepreneurial venture with the only capital of ambition & passion and a vision to form an integrated 360 agency positioned for large & medium sized Indian organisations. The first break came with the win of Air Sahara and a large part of Sahara India business in 2001 within about 2 years of the start of the Agency. Since then, there has been no looking back!

BEI Confluence The Success Story (1998- 2025)

One of North India’s largest & professionally sound and reputed independent & fully Indian owned 360 communication agencies in India.
Employs over 100 professionals across its offices in Delhi & Kolkata.
Specialised FMCG & ‘consumer facing’ brands agency handling leading brands from Radico Khaitan, Modi Group, JK Organisation, Jindal, Insecticides (India) Ltd, TotalEnegies, ECE Elevators from Birla Group, Cremica Biscuits & English Oven Breads from Mrs. Bectors, DFM Ltd, Biryani by Kilo, Kerovit from Kajaria, HMC (Hero Motors Company) and a host of large brands from leading groups & organisations.
Abhishek Gupta leads the operations of the Agency as Jt. MD with a Board comprising Tapas Gupta as Founder & CMD, Rumpa Gupta as Director and a professional team headed by a CEO.
BEI Confluence is expanding rapidly in size and stature, attracting newer clientele, brands and senior professionals to its fold. The agency has grown by 15%+ in 2023/24 in turnover. For the next two years, BEI Confluence has targeted a growth of 20% YoY with 35% growth on PAT YoY.

MILESTONES

1998-1999 In 1998, Tapas Gupta, ex-CEO PSL-McCann & Director Corporate McCann Erickson India, along with a pool of bright, young talents from M-E Group, founded Confluence Communication.
The Agency was born out of an idea: To build a FULLY INTEGRATED with 360 services communication agency for emerging Indian brands from large Indian Business Houses.
2000-2002 These early years defined the pathway of Confluence coming into age.
Number of large brands from big Indian Groups joined hands with Confluence.
Air Sahara, CRAX, one of India’s largest snacking brands, Sleepwell , Spicejet (Media Services), Insecticides India Limited, Playwin from Zee Group, to name a few.
2003-2007 The prefix BEI was added to the Confluence brand to inject the core philosophy of the Agency: ‘Be-integrated’. Since then the agency has been known as BEI Confluence, in short BEI.
Over these formative years, BEI emerged as a strong force amongst the mid-sized integrated agencies in India and its growth curve hovering in the region of 15-20% pa on a YOY basis.
2008-2013 The acquisition of the Onida Mobile in Mumbai, Schmitten Chocolates in Surat, M3M & WAVE Real Estate brands & Costa Coffee in Delhi along with many more new brands.
The merger of MediaPros, a mid-sized specialised Media Agency led by eminent Media professional Bashab Sarkar with the Hitachi & Apollo Munich Health Insurance media businesses moved in with the MediaPros team that merged with BEI.
This acted as a force multiplier & catapulted BEI to the Big League of Independent agencies in India by its 15th year.
2014-2020 The period of growth and consolidation continued and re-engineering & re-invention within BEI became a continuous process.
With Digital marketing & communication rapidly emerging as the most important discipline, BEI set itself to build an Integrated Digital Team that is future-ready with a ‘Digital First’ approach for all the digitally driven brands it handles.
Abhishek Gupta, an O&M, Publicis & Havas veteran joined in 2016 as Executive Director, taking charge of the Lead brands of BEI.
Radico Khaitan, Modi Group, JK Group, Jindal Stainless (JSL) are some of the brands BEI won to expan
2021-2025 In its Silver Jubilee year (2023), BEI transformed its brand look to a young & vibrant look and become Instagram friendly to further embrace the Digital First philosophy.
BEI moved to its fully owned large & swanky office at FBD ONE, a landmark office complex at the Delhi/Faridabad border.
BEI became known and acknowledged as one of the largest Indian, Independent and integrated communication agencies in North India.
Abhishek Gupta elevated as the JMD of the Agency and Shahid Hussain a 20 years+ eminent Creative professional at large MNC agencies take charge as NCD.
Tapas Gupta, CMD confer

LONG PARTNERSHIPS WITH BRANDS

20 Years+

10 Years+

05 Years+

03 Years+

0 - 3 Years

INTEGRATED BOUQUET OF SERVICES

The Promoter FamilyAdvertising in the DNA
Three Generations of Advertising Entrepreneurs who have enormously contributed and continuing to play significant role in shaping the Advertising landscape in India.

Generation 1: (1945 – 1978)

Mohit Gupta
One of the first advertising entrepreneurs in India, Mohit Gupta started his own advertising firm Publicity Forum in Calcutta in 1945. By late Fifties it became one of the bigger and highly reputed advertising agencies in the city, boasting of brands like United Bank of India, Margo Soap, Tuhina Cold Cream & Neem Toothpaste from Calcutta Chemical which they launched, Asco Bar Soap from the House of Jalans, Governments of Meghalaya and Nagaland.
Mohit Gupta’s and his partner Asit Gupta’s professional reputation as amongst the well-known advertising professionals in India in the Sixties & Seventies were widely acknowledged.Asit Gupta had also become the President of AAAI in 1961.

Generation 2: (1975/76…and continuing)

Tapas Gupta
Tapas was hit by the entrepreneurial bug in his mid 40’s after he spent 23 years in the McCann Erickson System. In 1998 he teamed up with his wife Chabi Roy Gupta, a leading Media professional in her own rights, and long term colleague in TSME/M-E to start Confluence Communication (later BEI Confluence). For Tapas & Chabi there has been no looking back since then. They have laid the foundation of BEI Confluence which is today one of India’s largest and most reputed fully Indian, integrated and independent 360 advertising agencies in India today.

Chabi Roy Gupta
Chabi has about thirty years of advertising experience and has been a leading Media professional in India in the mid-nineties till 2015 when she took pre-mature retirement from working life. She has led the Media Buying & Operations in leading agencies like Ulka (now FCB-Ulka), TSME (now McCann-Erickson) and later in McCann Erickson India, PSL McCann and BEI Confluence in her long & illustrious career. Along with Tapas she co-founded Confluence (later BEI Confluence) and one is one of the key architects of building the business, stature and reputation of the agency.

Generation 3: (2005…and continuing)

Abhishek Gupta
Abhishek had done his graduation from London School of Music on Music and Film & Audio Production. On returning to India, he joined Euro RSCG (now Havas) in Brand Management handling Max New York Life Insurance, Makemytrip and a number of other brands. He then joined Publicis in a senior Brand Management position and his key brands were Nestle’s Milk & Dairy products besides a host of other brands. He shifted to O&M a year later as Client Services Director (CSD) on The Coca-Cola Company brands handling Sprite, Miranda and a few other brands including Phillips. Abhishek joined BEI Confluence in 2016 as as Executive Director and was elevated in 2024 as Joint MD. Abhishek has been over-seeing the total operations of BEI Confluence since last few years and reports to the Board and the CMD.

Rumpa Gupta
Rumpa did her post-graduation in Mass Media & Communications from Times School of Journalism and started her career with Times Of India as a journalist. After two years in Journalism, she moved on to work in the Development Sector as a Communications Expert. She shifted to Singapore in 2010 and worked there for 8 years as a Programme Director & Communication Specialist working with under privileged youth and women. Thereafter shifted base to Delhi in 2018 and since then has been working in BEI Confluence as a VP and Head of an SBU managing key businesses like Insecticides (india) Ltd., Jindal Stainless, Radico Khaitan Ltd, Total Energies, Birla & JK Group businesses.

'The Mad Ad Years'India’s First Advertising Fiction
The Mad Ad Years is India’s first advertising fiction co-authored by veteran ad-man Tapas Gupta and author Aryani Banerjee, and published in 2021. The novel brings into light, the real stories of the vibrant world of advertising through the eyes of the protagonist Prashant Gupta, who has worked in some of the largest agencies in the country for nearly five decades. Tangy, wild and bittersweet – 'The Mad Ad Years' is not just a book but an irresistible concoction of ink on paper. You can buy 'The Mad Ad Years' on

THE MAD AD YEARS

is all about the revelation of the biggest secrets of the big, bad world of Indian advertising that had been kept under the carpet for decades, in a fictional form. These are revealed through the eyes of an insider, Prashant Gupta, who grows from a young newcomer accidentally getting a job in the 2nd largest ad agency in the country during 1970s in Calcutta, into a veteran ad-man and owner of a Rs.100-crore agency in India.

Tangy, wild and bittersweet – THE MAD AD YEARS is not just a book but an irresistible concoction of ink on paper.

Knowledge Shared = Knowledge² Tapas Gupta is an author, a prolific writer on Business, Marketing & Advertising, lecturer in leading Management Institutes, Industry Forums like CII & FICCI and a respected Speaker in Business Seminars, Award Functions and in interviews with video journalists from leading channels, portals & platforms and Business gatherings.