Brandsutra 2.0 brings practitioner perspective on brand growth from Nepal to South Asia

Brandsutra 2.0 is a newly released book on marketing and brand building that offers a practitioner-led perspective from emerging South Asia, drawing on real market experience in Nepal and comparable regional economies. Authored by Ujaya Shakya, a brand marketing professional and entrepreneur with extensive regional experience, the book reflects his professional journey spanning global clients, network agencies, senior leadership roles, and entrepreneurship.

As the founder of Outreach Nepal, Shakya has worked across multiple marketing disciplines, including brand strategy, digital marketing, activations and BTL, rural marketing, media planning and buying, and reputation management. These experiences inform Brandsutra 2.0’s grounded approach to understanding how brands grow, sustain relevance, and sometimes fail — and what marketers can learn from those failures.

Shakya said: “Rather than offering formulas or shortcuts, Brandsutra 2.0 focuses on long term thinking, cultural context and responsibility. It encourages readers to move beyond campaign execution and adopt a brand custodianship mindset – one that recognizes brands as long term assets built through consistency, intent and trust.”

The book is edited by Prof. Ujjwal K Chowdhury, an education leader and communication expert with over two decades of experience in transforming higher education institutions across India, Bangladesh and other South Asian markets through senior leadership roles including Dean and Pro Vice Chancellor.

As global growth increasingly shifts toward emerging markets, Brandsutra 2.0 addresses a gap in mainstream marketing literature which has largely been shaped by Western contexts. The book examines brand building in environments characterized by young populations, rising aspirations, rapid change, cultural diversity, infrastructure constraints and highly value-conscious consumers.

Written primarily for young marketing professionals, business and creative students, entrepreneurs and brand leaders, Brandsutra 2.0 emphasizes perspective before tactics – encouraging clearer thinking around positioning, relevance, trust, creativity and long term brand stewardship in markets where sales driven pressures often compete with brand building philosophy. In doing so, the book contributes to a broader global conversation on how brand strategy must evolve as emerging economies play a larger role in shaping the future of marketing. Brandsutra 2.0 is currently available in Nepal and is relevant to marketers, agency colleagues and brand leaders who work with or study emerging markets. The book will soon be available across other South Asian markets.