Geetanjali Sachwani, VP & Head of Marketing, Franklin Templeton, joins OAA 2025 jury

Geetanjali Sachwani, VP and Head of Marketing at Franklin Templeton, has joined OOH Advertising Awards’ distinguished jury panel for the 2025 edition. The OOH Advertising Awards are a cornerstone event of the OOH Advertising Convention (OAC) 2025, scheduled for July 18-19, 2025, at The Westin Mumbai Powai Lake.

The OAA ceremony, where the winners will be celebrated, is slated for the evening of July 19, 2025. The 19th edition of OAC will explore the theme “Mapping a New OOH-scape,” aiming to chart future directions and opportunities for the Out-of-Home medium. The judging process, which includes both online and on-ground rounds, is independently managed with EY serving as the tabulation partner, ensuring impartiality and accuracy. The submission deadline for OAA 2025 entries was May 30, 2025.

An accomplished marketing professional with over 16 years of experience in the financial sector, Geetanjali’s expertise lies in designing marketing strategies, visualizing digital-social media marketing road map, conceptualizing creatives, and business-intelligence driven campaigns by leveraging video, voice and vernacular for an all-rounded communication strategy. An alumnus of MICA, over the years she has led marketing for some of the largest brands such as MetLife, ICICI Prudential Life, Tata AIG General Insurance and L&T Mutual Fund.

Currently, Geetanjali is the Vice President and Head of Marketing at Franklin Templeton India. Her primary responsibilities comprise of creating integrated, multi-channel marketing and customer experience strategy to drive business growth. She is busy building the brand in India by increasing engagement, elevating brand awareness and enhancing customer delight across all touch points.

Discussing the role of creativity and AI in contemporary campaigns, Geetanjali outlined her judging criteria: “Breakthrough creative use of space and smart, purposeful use of AI, tech-creative integration, cultural and contextual relevance, and impact.”

On the crucial balance between craft and impact in evaluating entries, Geetanjali elaborated on her perspective: “I look at craft as the magnet, and impact as the justifier. Craft draws attention with design, copy, execution, innovation. It’s what makes a piece memorable, beautiful, or bold. Impact validates the craft, in the sense, did it change perception, spark action, or drive results? A visually stunning campaign that doesn’t move the needle may be art, but not necessarily effective advertising. On the flip side, an impactful idea that’s poorly executed can feel underwhelming.”

Highlighting the importance of the OOH Advertising Awards for the industry, Geetanjali affirmed, “OOH Advertising Awards matter because they do more than just celebrate good work, they elevate the entire medium. They showcase what’s possible, they validate the power of physical presence and encourage creative excellence.” She added, “These awards validate creative risks and celebrate the fusion of art, technology, and real-world relevance in outdoor advertising.”