Advertising leaders pay tribute to Prasoon Joshi at AAAI Lifetime Achievement Felicitation, call him ‘Mitti se juda hua poet’

On an evening steeped in memory, gratitude and quiet admiration, the Indian advertising fraternity came together in Mumbai to celebrate one of its most enduring creative voices. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) honoured Prasoon Joshi — advertising leader, poet-lyricist and longtime creative conscience of Indian brand storytelling — with the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award for 2025 on December 19.

Marketing and India Inc leaders like Sunil Suresh of Air India, Hemant Malik of ITC, Shripad Nadkarni, Sameer Suneja and Nikhil Sharma of Perfetti Van Melle, Kanika Kalra of Reckitt, T Krishnakumar of Reliance Consumer Products, Mohit Malhotra of Dabur India and Gaurav Jain of Reckitt, shared their admiration and experiences working with Joshi. The evening unfolded less like a formal felicitation and more like a collective remembering — of partnerships forged, ideas nurtured, and a creative life that has shaped how India speaks to itself.

Instituted in 1988, the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honour bestowed by the Indian advertising industry, recognising individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the profession and inspired generations through creative excellence and leadership. In Joshi’s case, speakers repeatedly returned to the same idea — that his work blurred the line between strategy and poetry, commerce and culture.

Sunil Suresh, Group CMO, Air India, spoke about Joshi’s role during moments of crisis, describing a relationship that went beyond briefs and mandates. He addressed Prasoon Joshi, saying, “You carry the wisdom of your roots into the most sophisticated boardrooms. You don't separate the poet from the strategist. It teaches us that to build global brands, we must first understand the human parts. You have spent a lifetime teaching us that magic happens when we have courage to make that leap into the unknown,” Suresh said

Hemant Malik, Executive Director, ITC Limited, congratulated Joshi and described him as “pure intelligence in the day and age of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence.” Reflecting on a partnership spanning more than two decades, Malik said, “Foods (ITC) was the original startup from Bangalore. We had no brand, we had no businesses, and we were deciding where to go. And Prasoon, you were one of the first people to partner with us. And what a partnership it has been!” Malik credited Joshi with building the Aashirvaad brand from the ground up — from naming and packaging to brand world and communication. “And I'm sure you would be very proud to know that today Aashirvaad is India's number one atta brand, a number one staples brand, is almost Rs 10,000 crores in consumer spend,” he added.

Shripad Nadkarni, Founder of Uprio and former CMO of Coca-Cola India, recalled knowing Joshi for over two decades and described him as “a stunningly creative leader.” “He melds creativity with a deep understanding of consumers and brands, and the results are always spectacular,” Nadkarni said. He spoke about how Joshi would ideate even without briefs, recalling the iconic Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola campaign. “One of the examples of that was the Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola campaign with Aamir as the Nepali Sherpa. It was just without any brief whatsoever, it was just that he kept on thinking about the brand all the time,” he said. Nadkarni also shared a personal moment, recounting how Joshi once narrated what he considered his finest poem. “We were at my place for a dinner to celebrate Coke's success, and Prasoon narrated what I consider his finest poem ever, which was Babul Jiya Mora Ghabrai… At the end of the poem, I remember Aamir Khan was there and said, for this poem alone, you deserve the Padma Shri.”

Sameer Suneja, CEO, Perfetti Van Melle, traced a relationship that spans nearly three decades, describing years of collaboration and friendship. “The amount of fun we've had together, the amount of campaigns we've created, the brands we've built, the friendships we've created, absolutely incredible,” Suneja said. Calling Joshi “Impossible,” he added that he is “a legend, a legacy, poet, scriptwriter, songwriter, but above all, an absolutely incredible friend.” Suneja also recalled a deeply personal gesture. “I still remember how you took my father to a Kailash Kher concert because that was his favourite singer… something that my father still so fondly remembers still today.”

Kanika Kalra, Marketing Director, Reckitt Health, South Asia, spoke about Joshi’s cultural impact and emotional lens. “As the world has changed attention, sir has always pushed us to chase emotion and actually make sure that we connect,” she said, adding that it is this cultural connection that gives his work lasting resonance. Recalling her first interaction with Joshi during the early days of e-commerce in India, Kalra said, “I remember that I wrote a brief, but he actually answered the brief with a poem,” which led to the Unbox Zindagi campaign. “The thought stayed with us so long and the words have now got embedded into culture,” she said.

T Krishnakumar, Director, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd, defined Joshi as a “once in a generation songwriter, poet, storyteller, and one of India's most influential creative leaders.” He said, “From the iconic Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola to the thought-provoking national campaigns rooted in emotion and purpose, he has set new benchmarks that have deeply impacted the Indian consumer.” Krishnakumar added that Joshi’s leadership placed Indian advertising firmly on the global creative map.

Mohit Malhotra, CEO, Dabur India Ltd, recalled their early days after college when Joshi worked as a copywriter at O&M. “You took so many Dabur brands to magical heights,” Malhotra said, referencing Dabur Vatika, Dabur Amla and Dabur Chyawanprash. Quoting lines from one of Joshi’s campaigns, he added, “You are mitti se juda hua poet, lyricist who understands Bharat like nobody else.”

Gaurav Jain, EVP and Regional Director at Reckitt, summed up the evening by describing Joshi as someone whose work quietly shaped how people feel and think. “Some people entertain us, some inform us. And there are a rare few who shape the way we feel, think and care,” Jain said. Calling Joshi a friend and colleague, he added that his words come “from the streets, the homes, the everyday lives of ordinary people,” and concluded, “By that measure, Prasoon's contribution is immeasurable.”

The Advertising Agencies Association of India, the national organisation representing advertising agencies in the country, works towards advancing professional practices and collaboration across the industry. With this honour, it recognised not just Prasoon Joshi’s creative output, but a legacy rooted in empathy, cultural truth and the enduring power of words.