The award has been presented to Swamy by the Advertising Club, Madras. He is the sixth recipient of the award in the last twenty-two years.
The Advertising Club, Madras, has in its diamond jubilee year, conferred the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) to Srinivasan K Swamy, chairman and managing director, R K SWAMY BBDO. The award was conferred on March 3, to Swamy for his leadership qualities and service to the Indian advertising industry. Swamy is the sixth recipient of this award in the last 22 years, with R K Swamy being the first recipient of the award in 1994. The award was presented by chief guest N Murali, co-chairman, The Hindu.
R V Rajan, former president, Advertising Club and founder president, Rural Marketing Agencies Association of India, Ramesh Narayan, former president, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), N Lakshmi Narayanan, vice-chairman, Cognizant and D K Srinivasan, honorary secretary, Hindu Mission Hospital felicitated Swamy on the occasion.
Murali congratulated Swamy or 'Sundar' for his outstanding achievement. Drawing a parallel between his father R K Swamy and him, Murali said, "Both worked for the industry in different economic environments. Swamy worked at a time when advertising was seen as a necessary evil, but a wasteful expenditure." He spoke about the contributions of both R K Swamy and Srinivasan Swamy to industry associations, especially the AAAI. "By sheer dint of his abilities and fighting spirit, he (R K Swamy) breached that bastion when he took on the leadership role at AAAI. He was the first person from this part of the country to do that. The only second person to have done that is Sundar (Srinivasan) Swamy. R K Swamy BBDO today is probably the only agency of its size that is full-service under its own umbrella, and the credit for that should go to Swamy and his team," added Murali.
Ramesh Narayan, former president, AAAI said, "Goafest was the brainchild of Srinivasan Swamy. He may have been unwelcome to Mumbai in the late '90s, but he is today most popular there."
Commenting on being given the award, Swamy said that to him, the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) from the Advertising Club Madras was the most coveted among the other awards received until now.