Dilip Cherian has pioneered the concept of Image Management in India and is the co-founder of Perfect Relations, South Asia’s top public relations and public affairs consultancy group. He is regarded as the ‘Image Guru of India’. He is a political & policy expert par excellence on bureaucracy, economy and media. His reputation as a communications consultant is based on his experience of advising over 800 corporate CEO’s and many political parties.
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Today he provides inputs and insights on crisis management, litigation communications, external outreach, (both traditional and digital) and public affairs to very select Clients on a confidential basis.

Current Enthusiasms

• Independent Crisis Counselor and Public Affairs Advisor.
• Previously, Co-founder and Consulting Partner of Perfect Relations
• Being in the business for the past 30 years, Perfect Relations staffs 500 employees in 18 offices all over India. It has worked and partnered with over a 1000 of the largest corporations operating in this growing market, both Indian as well as multinational firms. With a strong lineage of working with political parties and non-governmental organisations it is the indisputable leader in Image Management.
• Beyond Communications : Editorials and Feature Columns
• Renowned for his incisive comments on the social, political & economic developments in the country, he authors two widely read columns in leading Indian publications on macro-economic issues, the Indian bureaucracy & polity.
• His weekly column ‘dilli ka babu’ in the daily ‘Asian Age’ and his magazine column in ‘Bureaucracy Today’ address topical issues of bureaucracy, policy and governance.
• On TV regularly, his views of the country's economic and political environment are integral inputs on a number of television channels.

Past Work Experience
Dilip Cherian’s achievements have spanned a career graph as diverse as it is distinguished. Starting his career in Government, as an Economic Consultant to the Ministry of Industry, (B.I.C.P.), he went on to join fledgling publication ‘Business India’ and eventually became an editor at what emerged as India's leading business magazine.
As co-founder & business editor of ‘The Observer of Business & Politics’, he was instrumental in conceptualizing and creating the editorial structure and content of one of India’s biggest newest business dailies.

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While in London, he did a stint with global Brand Consultancy Co, ‘Wollf Olins’, and reinforced his understanding of visual Corporate Communications.
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Domain Expertise – Communicating with Governments. Advocacy & Crisis Management
Having dealt with government and bureaucracy and media through out his professional career, Dilip has developed the capacity to advice on communicating with the all external audiences globally, including the governments of the day.  Dilip has improvised strategies that have become the basis protocols that CEO’s and Board Rooms rely on.

Speaking Assignments
Mr. Cherian is a much sought-after speaker, moderator and anchor, and an indispensable element in many televised panel discussions debating on issues of international and national import. He has spoken at various national and international forums on a broad range of topics in the areas of Communications, Corporate Strategy, Crisis Management, Image Management, Lobbying, Public Relations, Public Affairs and Evolving India.

Independent Director on several Boards
These include one of India’s best loved English Radio FM channels ‘Radio One’ and India’s largest Daily Hindi Newspaper – ‘Jagran’ . He is also Chairman of the Advisory Board at the Kautilya School of Public Policy, currently.

Significant Public Appointments

• The Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI)
• National Institute of Design (NID)
• The Apex Committee of Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), Ministry of Company Affairs
• The Central Board of Film Certification
• Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad
• Chairperson of the Corporate Advisory Board of  School of Humanities Journalism of Lovely Professional University in Punjab.

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Community Activities
Dilip is a member of the Population Alliance and is associated with the ‘One Laptop per Child’ initiative. He also serves as a Board member of Charkha, a leading NGO committed to using communications tools to help publicize success stories of development initiatives.  

The Personal Face
When he is not airborne, juggling his demanding schedule while visiting his PR group’s offices or clients practically spanning half the globe, from Colombo to London and 14 other cities, Dilip Cherian lives in New Delhi, India with his wife, two children and three dogs.

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