Prasoon Joshi to Receive AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2025

The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) today announced that Prasoon Joshi, acclaimed advertising leader, poet-lyricist, and creative trailblazer — will be the recipient of the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award for 2025.

Instituted in 1988, the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honour bestowed by the Indian advertising industry to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the profession and inspired generations of practitioners through their creative excellence and leadership.

Prasoon Joshi, currently the CEO and CCO of McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman Asia Pacific, has been amongst the leaders who have been shaping the Indian advertising narrative for nearly three decades. His work—rooted in ethos, emotional depth, and cultural authenticity—gives Indian creativity a powerful international voice. Beyond advertising, his lyrical and screenwriting contributions to Indian cinema have won him national and international acclaim. He is amongst the youngest in the industry to have been honoured with the Padmashri.

Speaking on the announcement, Srinivasan K Swamy, President, AAAI, said, “Prasoon Joshi stands tall as one of the most inspiring creative minds of our times. His ability to blend insight, emotion, and cultural context into powerful storytelling has made a difference to Indian advertising at the global stage. The AAAI is happy to honour a professional whose work has not only elevated brands but also enriched society’s creative conscience.”

Jaydeep Gandhi, Chairman of the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award Committee, added, “Prasoon Joshi’s journey is a masterclass in the power of ideas and integrity in creativity. His work reflects a rare balance of commercial success and artistic sensitivity. The Committee members were unanimous in their choice to recognise Prasoon with this honour.”

The award will be formally presented at a special ceremony to be hosted by AAAI in the next few weeks.

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.

Some of the past winners of this award include Subhas Ghosal, Alyque Padamsee, Mike Khanna, R K Swamy, Piyush Pandey, Sam Balsara, Prem Mehta, Srinivasan Swamy, Ramesh Narayan, Roda Mehta, Ram Sehgal, Madhukar Kamath, Arvind Sharma, Colvyn Harris, Shashi Sinha, Vikram Sakhuja and others.

The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), founded in 1945, is the official national organisation of advertising agencies in India. It works towards the progress of the advertising industry by promoting professional practices, safeguarding the interests of its members, and fostering collaboration across the marketing and communication ecosystem.