Girish Ahuja, Head of Marketing, H & R Johnson joins jury panel of OAA 2025

Girish Ahuja, Head of Marketing at H & R Johnson, has joined the esteemed jury panel for the OOH Advertising Awards (OAA) 2025. With a distinguished career spanning 29 years across the FMCG and Auto industries, his vast experience in sales, marketing, and business leadership will provide invaluable perspective to the judging process.

This 19th edition of OAC will focus on the theme “Mapping a New OOH-scape,” exploring how the medium is evolving through technological advancements, changing consumer behaviors, and innovative creative applications. The OOH Advertising Awards are a central component of the OOH Advertising Convention (OAC) 2025, scheduled for July 18-19, 2025, at The Westin Mumbai Powai Lake. The OAA ceremony, where the industry’s top campaigns will be honored, is set to take place on the evening of July 19, 2025.

Girish Ahuja brings a wealth of experience, having previously overseen the cult brand ‘Milton’ along with other notable brands like Treo, Milton ProCook, Spotzero, Euroline, and Claro, prior to his current role at H & R Johnson. His rich background in marketing includes significant leadership positions such as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at TVS Tyres (now Eurogrip Tyres) and Greaves Cotton Ltd. He also led the Television business for Philips India. Over his extensive 29-year career in the FMCG and Auto industry, Girish has consistently demonstrated strong leadership across various domains including sales, marketing, and overall business management.

When asked what excites him most about being part of the OAA jury this year, Girish stated, “What excites me most about being part of the OAA jury this year is the opportunity to witness the creativity, innovation, and bold thinking that define the best in outdoor advertising today. In a world saturated with digital content, it’s thrilling to see how brands are pushing the boundaries of physical space to create impactful, memorable, and culturally resonant campaigns. Being part of the jury offers a unique opportunity to celebrate excellence, exchange ideas with fellow industry leaders, and help set the benchmark for the future of outdoor advertising.”

Regarding the central role of creativity and AI in campaigns over the past year, Girish outlined his judging focus: “With creativity and AI playing such a pivotal role in campaigns this past year, as a jury member, I’ll be looking for how seamlessly these elements are integrated to elevate the impact of the campaign rather than just serve as gimmicks. I would look at Contextual relevance, purposeful use of AI, creative brilliance, innovation, execution and effectiveness.”

On balancing craft and impact when evaluating entries, Girish explained, “I will look at how well these two elements complement and strengthen each other to create a campaign that is both visually compelling and meaningfully effective. I will look at conceptual strength, executional excellence, any real-world impact, memorability and longevity, etc.”

When asked to describe himself in three words based on his personality and interests, Girish offered two sets: “The three words would be curious, creative and insightful. Alternately, I would also say Data, ROI and efficacy as the other three crucial metrics which interests me.”

Highlighting the importance of the OOH Advertising Awards for the medium, Girish emphasized, “OOH Advertising Awards are incredibly important for the industry because they serve multiple vital roles that go beyond just recognizing great work. It’s a celebration of excellence, helps drive innovation, validating the power of the medium, recognizes the talent and also helps brands and marketers see the value of investing in outdoor advertising thus fuelling the industry growth.”