Srinivasan Swamy appointed chairman of International Advertising Association

New Delhi: Srinivasan Swamy, chairman of marketing communications firm RK Swamy Hansa Group, has been unanimously elected as the chairman and world president of International Advertising Association, for a period of two years. He takes over the reins from legendary advertising professional Felix Tataru from Romania.

Swamy, who was elected at the board meeting of IAA held in Romania, becomes the first Indian to hold the position. IAA is a global advertising body with presence in 76 countries.

“With my able and experienced team, I hope to scale up the operations and image of the IAA in a meaningful manner. Being the first Indian to be bestowed this honour, is not just a personal milestone, but a symbol of the increasing ascendance of India as a leader and a significant player in world advertising and media fora,” said Swamy.

Swamy will lead a team of 25 executive committee members from a host of countries including India, USA, UK, Austria, Italy, Poland, Ghana, UAE, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Netherlands, Kuwait, Iran and Nepal. Punit Goenka, managing director and chief executive of Zee Entertainment, is the president of IAA India chapter and will work alongside Swamy for the next two years.

Under Swamy’s leadership, India will play host to the 44th edition of the ‘IAA World Congress’, which is scheduled to be held in Cochin in 2019. Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani will be the chairman of the 44th IAA World Congress which will address topics related to trends in marketing, advertising, digital, artificial intelligence, analytics and consumer engagement.

Swamy’s journey with IAA started several years ago when he took over as the India chapter president. He started hosting three to four annual events; introduced over 35 annual industry events helping IAA India emerging as the most active national industry body. He has been honoured with the Global Champion award by the IAA at the inaugural Inspire Awards in London and was also inducted into the IAA India Chapter Hall of Fame last year.

Apart from serving as the Vice Chairman of Asian Federation of Advertising Associations currently, he has held many significant industry leadership roles including Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), Advertising Standards Council of India and also served as board member of Audit Bureau of Circulations.