Srinivasan K Swamy, chairman of RK Swamy Hansa group, has been named by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) as the recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2016.
The award is billed as the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for outstanding contribution to the advertising industry. It was instituted in 1988. Till date, 23 individuals have been bestowed the honour.
Swamy is also president of the International Advertising Association (IAA) India chapter in a fourth successive term, and was elected senior VP of IAA (global) this June. He currently serves as vice chairman of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and is a board member of Audit Bureau of Circulations. At the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA), Swamy is vice chairman.
In previous roles with industry associations, Swamy was chairman of AFAA (2008-’10), president of All India Management Association (2008-’09), president of The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (2008-’10), Madras Management Association (2001-’02) and the Advertising Club, Madras (1988-’89). He was also president of the AAAI for three successive terms from 2004.
Dr MG Parameswaran, president, AAAI, said, “If there is one person who has tirelessly worked for the advertising industry, for over two decades, in various industry bodies, it is Sundar Swamy. So in a sense it was an easy choice this year. We are hopeful that AAAI and its member agencies will have his continued involvement and inputs as we navigate the ever changing terrain of advertising business.”
The award will be presented to Swamy on 29 July in Mumbai.
In addition to his contribution to industry bodies, Swamy is actively involved in social work, through a 220-bed multi-discipline Hindu Mission Hospital at Chennai catering to the urban poor and surrounding rural areas; as chairman of Valluvar Gurukulam School Society, which runs a school for 2,800 poor students, primarily girls; and as VP of National Boys and Girls Education Society, an education institution in Chennai which runs three schools. He is also chairman of Vidyadhanam and Annadhanam Trust, a vedic pathasala of Sri Ahobila Mutt, and trustee at the Consumers Association of India and CONCERT.
A AAAI statement informed: “The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has been a practitioner of advertising for 25 years and had been in the top management position; has been or continues to be an active participant in industry bodies and or made significant contributions in shaping the industry priorities which enabled the advertising industry to grow, prosper and become more professionalised; individual known for his integrity, ethical practice and leadership qualities; contributed to his company/companies growth by innovative thinking and taking them in newer directions; involved in projects of social consequence which is seen as a role model for the industry at large and had been an industry veteran.”
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