By A Correspondent

The Advertising Agencies Association of India has announced that this year’s AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to Madhukar Kamath. This is the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the Advertising Industry. The award will be presented on September 6, 2019 in Mumbai.

Kamath is a distinguished alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur and Loyola College, Chennai. He has more than four decades of experience in the advertising industry and has spent over 25 years in the erstwhile Mudra now the DDB Mudra Group. Currently, Madhukar is the Chairman Emeritus of the DDB Mudra Group and Mentor Interbrand India.

Madhukar Kamath

Kamath has actively participated in and has led several industry bodies. He was Vice President of AAAI (2005-07) and President of AAAI (2007-09). During his tenure as President, AAAI, Madhukar initiated and concluded the entry of media agencies in the fold of AAAI after amending the constitution of AAAI. During Madhukar’s tenure an IAMAI-AAAI joint agreement was signed for the promotion and smooth working of Digital media. He also led the AAAI’s involvement in creation of BARC. He was also Chairman of ASCI (The Advertising Standards Council of India). He is currently serving on the board of the Audit Bureau of Circulation as Vice Chairman and is soon set to take over as Chairman of ABC.

Ashish Bhasin

Making the announcement, Ashish Bhasin, President, AAAI, stated that: “Madhukar Kamath is an inspiration for generations in our industry. His contribution in making Mudra into one of the top agencies in India is extremely commendable. In addition to his professional achievements, he has done so much for the industry. Under his Presidentship, AAAI made significant progress. He is truly deserving of this honour”

Nakul Chopra

Added Nakul Chopra, Chairman of the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award Selection Committee :Madhukar Kamath was the unanimous choice given his stature in the Indian advertising industry. In his case, it was never a question of if, it was only a question of when. My heartiest congratulations to him for this richly deserved honour.”

This award was instituted in 1988 by AAAI and some of the past winners include Subhas Ghosal, Alyque Padamsee, Mike Khanna, Piyush Pandey, Sam Balsara, Prem Mehta, Ram Sehgal and others.