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Tag: Sundar Swamy

  • Srinivasan K Swamy was presented the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday in the presence of industry captains

    ‘Taking the leap of faith’ with Sundar Swamy

     

    There was no suspense on the announcement as Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) had sent us a communique on the recipient for this year’s AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is the highest honour given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the advertising industry. The award was instituted in 1988 by AAAI, and there have been 23 recipients for the award so far.

     

    Srinivasan K Swamy, popularly known as Sundar Swamy, was recognised by the AAAI with the award. Friday, July 29 was a beautiful evening not only because someone was being recognised for his hard work and contribution to the industry but for the immense respect he has earned from each and every person present at the Imperial hall in St Regis Hotel, Mumbai.

     

     

    The Sundar Swamy we know:

    Pradeep Guha, Managing Director, 9X Media: Firstly, he is a friend. Like Ramesh said, even I have come to know him recently but my relationship with him grew very fast because we have done a lot of things together, particularly in the IAA. Having seen him work at very close quarters, I have no doubt that he is a worthy achiever of not only this award but many more awards to come.

     

    Dr Bhaskar Das, President, Zee Unimedia: I still believe it is too early for Mr Swamy to get lifetime achievement because he is still so active. But I think let us not go literally by the terminology. Definitely he deserves it because he has contributed and has been still contributing to the marketing and advertising fraternity apart from the heritage of his father. He has been running his agency plus doing a human service to the industry. Very affable and endearing personality, I think he deserves it. He is a fantastic person. An integrating personality in an otherwise divided industry.

     

    Monica Tata, Media and Entertainment Consultant, Secretary, IAA (India): There are not enough words in the dictionary to describe Mr Sundar Swamy. I have interacted with him ever since I got involved with IAA. It is because of him I have been able to understand a lot about my capabilities to do a lot of things. He has this knack of bringing out the best and sometimes the worst in you. I cannot thank him enough for giving me the opportunity to be a part of his team. He is an incredible human being and leader, he knows how to get things done and he does it in his inimitable style. So, I have huge high regards and respect for him. I am also known to be the one who messes up his name every time I make a public announcement about him. He is a fabulous human being and I think it is a fantastic sort of achievement but it is so deserving, so my full heartfelt congratulations to him and his achievement today.

     

    “I am a great believer of fate. What is destined for one will happen. But that didn’t stop me in taking on many challenges. I am confident by nature, sometimes foolishly if I may add, but my life has been all about ‘leap of faith’. Every task I have taken on, I try to do full justice. My personal benchmark is to do better than all my predecessors and I have unfailingly delivered on this, to the best of my knowledge,” said Swamy, an AAAI Executive Committee member since 1998 in his acceptance speech.

     

    The evening started with AAAI Secretary General Sudesh Kapoor inviting the man of the evening Sundar Swamy, former President  and now the ex-officio member  of AAAI M.G. Parameswaran, the new President  of AAAI and CEO, South Asia, Publicis Communications India Pvt Ltd Nakul Chopra, AshishBhasin, Chairman and CEO, South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network and also the newly elected Vice President of AAAI and Sridhar Ramasubramanian, Chief Operating Officer, GroupM and also an executive committee member of the AAAI  to the stage to start the evening for which everyone had gathered for. The loudest cheers though were reserved when Srinivasan Swamy’s wife Sudha Swamy.

     

    While introduced the norms of the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award, Parameswaran said: “It was literally a unanimous decision that award this year should go to Srinivasan K Swamy or Sundar as we know him as,” he said. While introducing the successful and illustrious achievements of Swamy, Parameswaran joked how Swamy would insist on being called ‘Anna’ since he was six months elder to him.

     

    Ramesh Narayan, founder of Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd, a dear friend of Swamy and a former AAAI Lifetime Award winner, described how a half-hour meeting between the two transitioned in Swamy creating a permanent place in Narayan’s heart. “All I will say is leading professionals in our industry have to learn from Sundar Swamy on how to be able to run an agency as well as give back so much time and energy to our industry. Anyone who says he has not got the time to give back to our industry has to learn from him,” said Narayan.  At the conclusion of his speech, Narayan shared an anecdote that during an IAA event an academic pointed at Swamy and asked him do you know who he is? An amused Narayan wanted to know the answer. “This man smiles and says Kabaali Da! (the famous dialogue from Rajnikanth’s latest movie). And that I think says everything,” smiled Narayan.

     

    Narayan in his speech applauded Sudha Swamy, because according to him she deserves all the appreciation as “it cannot be easy being his (Swamy’s) wife”. Later, speaking to us about her husband, she said, “It is pretty amazing that sitting at Chennai, he is able to do so much more in Mumbai, since he has to keep traveling back and forth. He sits in Chennai and family is in Chennai, it is a lot of travelling which means he has to do a lot of planning in terms of time, meetings etc. He has this ability to laugh and he has never ever used foul language in his life, which is something that I have not seen in too many people. He is there for all the activities or to take up all the responsibilities but somewhere I would have liked him to be more around the family and the children but you cannot have the cake as well as eat it.” In his acceptance speech, Swamy described his wife as a ‘very bright lady’ and thanked her for selflessly giving up things to look after their family.

     

    Carrying forward the Rajnikanth joke, Bhasin, before reading the citation, said, “Rajnikanth checks with Sundar when he is having an IIA function before releasing his films.” Chopra presented the citation to Swamy. “I have never worked with him in a job but I worked with him extensively at the association. And I think there is not another person right now in the industry who has been as active at the industry level as him, whether it is the AAAI, IIA etc. How he finds the time, energy and the push to do all that is incredible and I cannot think of anybody who deserves this award more than him,” said Chopra.

     

    In his acceptance speech Swamy said his father R K Swamy, a legend in the advertising industry was the ‘coolest boss’ he had. He spoke about spearheading the Goafest, which is seen by the industry experts as an impossible job made possible by Swamy. Even though he was happy receiving the award, his concluding remarks were, “Let me warn you, this lifetime achievement award does not mean retirement for me. I am not going anywhere yet because I have a long journey ahead.”

     

  • Swamy is the Chairman of R K Swamy Hansa, a prominent and well diversified marketing communications group

    Srinivasan K Swamy to be conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2016

    By A Correspondent

     

    Srinivasan K. Swamy

    The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) announced the recipient of this year’s AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award – Srinivasan K Swamy, popularly known as Sundar Swamy. This Award is the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the advertising Industry. This award was instituted in 1988 by AAAI and so far 23 persons have been bestowed with this award earlier.

     

    Swamy is the Chairman of R K Swamy Hansa, a prominent and well diversified marketing communications group. Swamy has been active in various industry bodies working towards the growth and development of the advertising industry. He was President of AAAI for three consecutive terms (2004 – 2007) and continues to take active interest in the activities of AAAI. He is the Vice Chairman of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and a Board Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations. Swamy was also President of All India Management Association during 2008-09. He was the President of The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (2008-10), Madras Management Association (2001-02) and the Advertising Club, Madras (1988-89).

     

    He is serving his fourth term as the President of the India Chapter of International Advertising Association and was recently elected as Senior Vice President of International Advertising Association, the global body. Swamy is Vice Chairman of Asian Federation of Advertising Associations. Earlier he was Chairman of Confederation of Asian Advertising Agency Associations during 2008-10.

     

    In addition, Swamy is actively involved with socially relevant institutions for the improvement of society viz.  220 bed, multi-discipline tertiary care, Hindu Mission Hospital at Chennai catering to the urban poor and the surrounding rural areas; Chairman of Valluvar Gurukulam School Society which runs a school for 2800 poor students, primarily girls and Vice President of National Boys and Girls Education Society, a premium education institution in Central Chennai which runs three reputed schools. He is also Chairman of Vidyadhanam and Annadhanam Trust, a Vedic Padasala of Sri Ahobila Mutt and Trustee in the Consumers Association of India and Concert.

     

    M G Parameswaran

    Making the announcement, Dr M G Parameswaran, President, AAAI, stated that “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 AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has been a practitioner of advertising for twenty-five 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 professionalized;  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.

     

    The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Swamy on 29th July 2016 in Mumbai.

     

  • The International Advertising Association (IAA) elected its team for the coming two years during its annual Board of Directors meeting

    Sundar Swamy, Kaushik Roy in IAA global leadership team

    By A Correspondent

     

    IAA India President Srinivasan (Sundar) Swamy and APAC head (and former President) Kaushik Roy are part of the global body’s leadership for 2016-18. The International Advertising Association (IAA) elected its team for the coming two years during its annual Board of Directors meeting.

     

    “Felix Tătaru at 42 is the youngest IAA Chairman in our history,” commented Michael Lee, IAA Managing Director, adding:  “We have an ambitious agenda for the next two years and our exciting mission continues today”

     

    Said Tataru: “We are very excited to assemble our leadership at such an exciting and challenging time in our industry. The IAA, representing all areas of  marketing communications – advertisers, agencies, media and educators is committed to inspire the industry and society. Everyone in our industry is empowered to contribute in their own way and the IAA looks forward to harnessing the resources and energy of our members around the world”

     

    Among the current industry issues for the IAA include the continued importance of best practices and integrity; the defense of unwarranted bans and interference with brands and advertising and the development of talent within our industry

     

    The following is the list of IAA Officers for 2016-2018:

     

    Felix Tătaru 

    Chairman and World President,

    GMP Group, Romania

     

    Faris Abouhamad

    Immediate Past Chairman and World President,

    CEO, InterOne Resonance, UAE

     

    Srinivasan Swamy

    Senior Vice President,

    CMD, RK SWAMY BBDO Pvt Ltd, India

     

    Diane Slade 

    General Secretary,

    Head of Advertising Edith Cowan University,Perth, Western Australia

     

    Venanzio Camarra

    Treasurer,

    Managing Partner and Chief Consultant of Studio Aldabra<, Italy

     

    Carla Michelotti

    Vice President Corporate Members and Government Affairs,

    President, Carla Michelotti LLC, USA

     

    Kaushik Roy

    Vice President Area Director Asia Pacific,

    President – Brand Strategy & Marketing Communication, Reliance Industries Ltd, India

     

    Tom Brookbanks

    Vice President Area Director USA/Canada,

    Senior Vice President, Starcom Mediavest, USA

     

    Kyra Roest

    Vice President Are Director Europe

    Business & People connector, /UM’GE:BUN/, Netherlands

     

    Saad El Zein

    Vice President Area Director Middle East Africa

    Saad El Zein Company, UAE

     

    Michael Lee

    Managing Director IAA, USA

     

  • The R K Swamy Hansa Group Chairman and Vice President-Development of IAA Asia Pacific has been elected for the fourth consecutive term as IAA India Chapter President

    Srinivasan Swamy re-elected IAA India President

    By A Correspondent

     

    The India Chapter of International Advertising Association elected Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman of R K Swamy Hansa Group and Vice President-Development of IAA Asia Pacific, for the fourth consecutive term as its President. “I am humbled by the confidence shown by the members in choosing me to head this international body in India. The last three years have been exciting in that we demonstrated to the marketing and advertising community through the initiatives and events we held that IAA is a thought leader in many respects. Further the awards that we have instituted were both relevant and meaningful,” said Swamy.

     

    Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO of Hungama.com was re-elected as the Vice President for the third term. Monica Tata former MD of HBO India was re-elected as Hon. Secretary. Janak Sarda, Joint MD of Deshdoot publications was elected as the Honorary Treasurer.

     

    In addition, the following five members were elected as members of the Managing Committee: Abhishek Karnani, Vishakha Singh, Jaideep Gandhi, Anand Sankeshwar and Manish Advani. Kaushik Roy continues on the Committee as the Immediate Past President.

     

    Pradeep Guha, Area Director, IAA Asia Pacific said “the last few years have seen considerable momentum in terms of the activities IAA has been involved in. This has been reflected in the World Board recognizing the India Chapter as the Best Chapter twice consecutively. I am delighted that Srinivasan Swamy will be steering the India Chapter of the IAA this year as well. It could be a period of continued growth as well as consolidation. The presence of young leaders on the Managing Committee augurs well for the future of the IAA”.

     

    At the first Managing Committee meeting immediately after the AGM, five additional members were co-opted as per IAA Constitution. These were: M V Shreyams Kumar, Dr Bhaskar Das, Ashok Venkatramani, C V L Srinivas and Pradeep Dwivedi.

     

    In addition, the following senior professionals were invited to be part of the Committee: Pradeep Guha, Ramesh Narayan, Sam Balsara, M.G.Parameswaran, Raj Nayak, Atit Mehta, Vikram Sakhuja and Kunal Lalani. More members are likely to be inducted in the next few weeks.

     

  • Many in the advertising and media business are hopeful that Goafest 2013 will be successful with go-getter Srinivasan ‘Sundar’ Swamy as chairman of the organising committee

    Adland bullish on Goafest 2014 with Sundar Swamy incharge

    By A Correspondent

     

    We all know of the mess that Goafest, the annual adfest of India’s advertising and marketing services industry, has been in. The Advertising Agencies Association of India delayed the announcement of the date for reasons best known to it. And there were reservations from many of the top ad agencies on their participation in the Creative Abby.

     

    Already the reputation of Goafest had taken a beating last year with charges of plagiarism and scam advertising impacting the credibility of what’s decidedly the mainstay of the event: the Creative Abby. “Ogilvy not participating in the Abby is like Brazil pulling out from the World Cup Soccer or China from the Olympics,” said one organiser and ad honcho on anonymity.

     

    The last straw in the mess on Goafest was the stepping aside of Nakul Chopra as chairman of the Goafest Organising Committee earlier this week. The many delays in the dates meant that Mr Chopra would have to stay back from work for too long, and that’s something he could ill-afford.

     

    But the appointment of Srinivasan Swamy, better known in the business as Sundar Swamy, is said to be a masterstroke. Said the organiser-cum-honcho we spoke to earlier: “There are few people in the business who you can never say no to. Sundar is one of them.”

     

    A member of the India chapter of International Association of Advertisers cites Mr Swamy’s can-do attitude and a gentle mix of delegation-and-monitoring as the reason why IAA has superactive in the last two years. “There was no brief for the IAA to do what he has done. But Sundar achieved what Ad Club, AAAI and several other clubs and associations ought to be doing.”

     

    Yet, said the honcho, it’s interesting that Mr Swamy has taken on the responsibility when it’s indeed a tall order given that the odds stacked against it.

     

    Mr Swamy’s statement that the 2014 edition will be bigger and brighter may be looked at by many with a “let’s wait and watch”, but the balls have started rolling. The hotel has been tentatively booked, the dates are nearly sealed, and by shifting the proceedings indoors, there is hope that the heat generated around is more by the proceedings than the weather.

     

  • The three-day annual adfest will be held indoors in Goa in the last week o f May 2014

    Srinivasan Swamy to head “bigger, better” Goafest 2014, to be held indoors in Goa in end-May

    By A Correspondent

     

    There’s reason to cheer for India’s adfrat. Goafest 2014 has not been put off, and the Creative and Media Abby will be held as part of the fest. RK Swamy Hansa group Chairman and Managing Director Srinivasan K Swamy, better known as Sundar Swamy, is the new Chairman of the Organising Committee.

     

    Confirming the news to MxMIndia, Mr Swamy said that the Goafest this year will be bigger and brighter than ever before. We have expanded the awards and will have three evenings of awards. “The entire programme will be indoors so there is no reason to despair about the heat,” he added.

     

    Mr Swamy, who is also President, IAA India Chapter & VP-Development, IAA Asia Pacific. In fact, the IAA has had a hyperactive two years, since Mr Swamy took over.

     

    He has been associated with Goafest for some years as incharge of the industry conclave. According to information we have received, the dates will in all probability be around the last week of May and the event will be held indoors as against the beaches of Goa.

     

    As reported by MxMIndia yesterday (Feb 12),  Nakul Chopra had declined to be Chairman of the Goafest Organising Committee. While some may have felt that it was a setback, according to a senior agency captain, the appointment of Mr Swamy is sure to energise Goafest 2014.

     

  • The last date for entries for the first and only awards for creative excellence in communicating sustainability is January 31, 2014. Entry form can be downloaded from iaaindiachapter.org

    IAA calls for entries to Olive Crown Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) has issued a call for creative entries for the fourth edition of the IAA Olive Crown Awards. The Olive Crown Awards which are India’s first and only awards for creative excellence in communicating sustainability have been growing in size and stature over the years. The entry form can be downloaded from iaaindiachapter.org. The last date for entries is January 31, 2014.

     

    Last year, the awards were endorsed by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) and went on to become the first ever pan-Asian event of its kind. AFAA will continue to endorse it this year. Said Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman, R K SWAMY BBDO and President, India Chapter and VP-Development Asia Pacific, IAA: “These awards have acquired the hue of a ‘cause’ and this is one of the reasons for their universal acceptance.” Ramesh Narayan, Founder Canco Advertising and M G Parameswaran, Executive Director and CEO Draft FCB Ulka, are Co-Chairmen of the IAA Olive Crown Awards.  Mr Parameswaran said, “We cannot put a price on our commitment to Brand Earth and that is why there is no entry fee for this one-of-a-kind award. The quality of entries was very high last year and we are expecting an even better standard this time”.

     

    The awards will be presented in Mumbai in March 2014.  For the third time in succession, leading music channel 9XM will be presenting sponsor of these awards. Hungama and the Patrika Group are the Green partners.

     

  • Srinivasan K Swamy, popularly known as Sundar Swamy, Chairman RK SWAMY BBDO was unanimously elected President of the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) for the year 2012-13

    Sundar Swamy is President, IAA India chapter

    By A Correspondent

     

    Srinivasan K Swamy

    Srinivasan K Swamy, popularly known as Sundar Swamy, Chairman RK SWAMY BBDO was unanimously elected President of the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) for the year 2012-13 at the annual general meeting on November 2. An industry veteran, Mr Swamy was till recently the Chairman of Confederation of Asian Advertising Agency Associations. He was also past president of Advertising Agencies Association of India for three years between 2004 and 2007. Kaushik Roy, President, Brand Strategy and Marketing Communications, Reliance Industries, who was IAA President for the last couple of years.

     

    Mr Swamy said, “In today’s global economy, associations like the IAA play a pivotal role in building cross- cultural bridges, and in ensuring a seamless transition of ideas and interests across the world”.

     

    He added that since the IAA represented marketers, agencies and the media it had a very important role to play in developing the communication industry in the country and across the globe.

     

    Mr Swamy said that apart from the Olive Crown awards and the other regular activities that the IAA conducts, he would make a concerted effort to spread the activities of the India Chapter to different parts of the country. Another thrust area would be to get mid-sized agencies and media houses to get further involved in the activities of the IAA so that they could benefit from the involvement and participation.

     

    Kunal Lalani of Crayons Advertising was elected Vice President, Monica Tata from Turner as Hon. Secretary and Jaideep Gandhi of Jaya Advertising was elected Hon. Treasurer. The Managing Committee members elected are Avinash Pandey, M.G.Parameswaran, Neeraj Roy, Raj Nayak and Sam Balsara and the new Committee also co-opted Ramesh Narayan, Shreyams Kumar, Arunabh Das Shrama, Abhisek Karnani, Manish Advani and Neville Taraporewala as its members.