AHA is a media-fluid, business-first creative agency with a presence in both India and Dubai.
They are a performance-obsessed creative collective built to help brands find clarity, engineer momentum, and drive meaningful growth. With creative hubs in Bengaluru and Dubai, AHA brings together strategy, communication design, digital, tech and media expertise under one integrated system.
AHA provides services, including brand and growth strategy, communications, design that includes packaging, environment and spatial design, brand identity etc. content production, digital and performance marketing and technology development
Rooted in a business-first mindset, AHA operates at the intersection of sharp strategy and creative execution—solving real-world brand challenges through insight-led, media-fluid, and impact-focussed interventions. Every engagement is guided by PRISM, AHA’s proprietary operating system that transforms complexity into structured, scalable action.
Whether repositioning legacy brands, building new categories, or accelerating go-to-market for emerging ventures, AHA partners with businesses ready to move beyond noise and into outcomes. From first principles to final execution, AHA builds brands that don’t just participate in culture, but shape it.
AHA provides services, including brand strategy and communication, digital and performance marketing, creative development, experiential marketing, and AI-driven innovation. The agency works with brands such as Wipro Consumer Care / Wipro Yardley, Emami International, Dabur International, Orkla (MTR/Eastern), Britannia International, ABInBev, SanMar US, Unicef / USAid, Lead School, Spar, and Shahi Exports.
With a focus on strategic innovation, and adaptability, AHA aims to ensure that brands stay ahead in an ever-evolving consumer landscape.
Medianews4u.com caught up with Sushobhan Chowdhury, founder AHA
Q. In 2025, what are going to be the focus areas of AHA to drive growth?
Our focus for 2025 is centred on areas where we believe we can deliver meaningful impact. The first is artificial intelligence, not as a replacement for people, but as a tool to elevate our thinking.
We’re using it in planning, research, analysis, and gathering insights, i.e., the behind-the-scenes work that informs bold, effective ideas. AI helps us get to deeper truths faster. It’s not about finding shortcuts; it’s about laying down stronger foundations for everything we build.
Q. There’s a trend of agency remuneration shifting toward business outcomes. Is AHA also moving in that direction?
We’re open to outcome-based models—but only when we have full control over the levers that drive those outcomes. That’s the reality of it. Agencies can’t be held accountable for business results if decisions are fragmented or ownership is split.
The reason this model hasn’t scaled widely is simple: most brand owners still want to hold the reins. But when trust and full ownership exist, we’re ready to step in fully—because the payoff is significant.
We’ve done it before on campaigns like demand gen or performance-led work where the link between action and result is clear. But it’s never a half-commit. You either bet fully or you don’t. And when we do, we’re all in.
Q. Could you share some recent work from AHA that stands out?
A couple of recent projects really demonstrate the kind of impact we aim to create.
Zandu Balm (GCC Market): Zandu had strong top-of-mind recall among the South Asian diaspora, but lagged behind in market share, especially against brands like Tiger Balm and other Southeast Asian competitors. Our job was to help them break that pattern.
We created three impactful digital films that ran across multiple digital platforms, built around a strong, category-resonant narrative that challenged the casual use of painkillers. We framed the balm not just as a remedy, but as a better, safer alternative to pills. The results were clear: a 30% month-on-month growth in the region and a meaningful shift in preference.
Enchanteur Naturelle (Packaging Design): For Enchanteur, we designed the entire packaging system for their new lotion and body wash range under the “Enchanteur Naturelle” umbrella.
The Body Wash went on to win Product of the Year 2025—a great example of how design, when done right, becomes a quiet yet powerful differentiator at shelf and in the consumer’s mind. This also tells us we helped it stand out not just visually, but emotionally and functionally too.
Q. How is AHA leveraging AI to improve its solutions?
We’re using AI primarily to enhance the way we think and plan. It’s become a powerful resource for deep-dive research, tracking market dynamics, analysing cultural signals, and scanning the competitive landscape. Tasks that once took days can now be accomplished in hours, giving us a more solid foundation to build strategy on.
That said, we’re not using AI to generate ideas. The creative spark, the storytelling, the emotional intelligence. All that still comes from our team. What AI does is clear the noise and give us more time and headspace to focus on what actually moves people. AI assists but the ideas will still come from people.
Q. Nexad is using AI to deliver personalised ads. Will AI fundamentally reshape the digital ad ecosystem in the next three years?
Definitely. The digital advertising ecosystem has become cluttered, overcomplicated. Platforms have layered on too many rules, too much friction, and too little transparency. AI has the potential to strip that back and make things more streamlined and transparent.
Very soon AI agents will be competent enough that they can autonomously set up campaigns, optimise budgets, interpret performance data, and make real-time decisions. That’s game-changing.
It shifts more control into the hands of brands and removes much of the guesswork from the media buying process. If done right, we could be looking at a smarter, more efficient ecosystem where strategy and creativity can thrive without being lost in operational clutter.
Q. At the same time, there’s concern that AI might lead to creative sameness. Is that a real risk?
Absolutely. When AI is put in charge of the creative output, the work often ends up looking polished but emotionally flat. It might tick all the boxes visually, but it lacks soul. What makes great creative stand out is that little bit of edge, unpredictability, or intuition. That is something only people can truly bring.
So while AI is great for automating the repetitive tasks and speeding up production, the responsibility for originality, emotion, and risk-taking needs to stay with humans. That’s the only way to keep creative work truly resonant.
Q. Is the traditional marketing funnel becoming obsolete, especially given how impulsive and unpredictable consumer behaviour has become?
The funnel, as we once knew it, isn’t dead, but it’s definitely no longer linear.
People don’t move in predictable steps anymore. A customer could jump from first exposure straight to advocacy, skipping the middle entirely. And sometimes the action; buying—comes much later than the emotional connect. That’s why it’s more useful to focus on behaviour patterns, need states, and platforms than to get hung up on rigid funnels.
In that sense, we still believe in structure, but not formula. The goal is to build seamless journeys, not rigid pipelines.
Q. During festive seasons, consumers flock to retail media. Should brands treat it like they treat social media—and how can they build for it?
Retail media during festive periods is a very different animal compared to social media. Social is where people scroll, browse, and get inspired. Retail media, on the other hand, is where they take action. It’s driven by intent and urgency.
That’s why brands need to go beyond visibility and focus on momentum. You’re not just showing up, you’re showing up with purpose. The creative needs to be sharp, direct, and conversion-focused. Build for the mind set people are in, not just the platform they’re using.
Q. Why is it important for agencies to shift from campaign-thinking to system-thinking?
Because campaigns are momentary, but systems are sustainable. Agencies have traditionally been built around the campaign model. Today’s business challenges demand adaptability be it short term, long term, efficiency and consistency and all of this can be address via system thinking. At AHA, we don’t default to campaigns.
We begin by understanding the business problem, market environment, and consumer behaviour. Often, the solution is a repeatable framework, a scalable content engine, or a flexible design system. Campaigns can be part of the mix, but the real magic lies in building ecosystems that evolve and grow.
Q. What does the fragmentation of the adtech ecosystem (e.g., Google Ad Manager fallout) mean for creative strategy?
It means creative strategy has to be more intelligent, faster, and tailored to the platform. You can’t rely on creating one hero asset and slicing it for different placements. Every channel has its own dynamics, audience expectations, and technical rules.
This pushes us to design modular creative that’s intentionally built for each touch point. It’s more work, but it pays off. When your message is crafted to match the rhythm and context of the platform, it lands with more force. And in today’s noisy market, that makes all the difference.
Q. In the US, judges have ruled against Google in antitrust suits. Could this pave the way for a more open Internet?
It certainly sends a strong signal, but whether it truly opens up the Internet depends on what happens next. The ruling makes it clear that dominant players won’t be left unchecked forever. That’s important. But legal decisions alone don’t change the dynamics of an ecosystem this complex.
For real change to happen, we’ll need follow-through. Sensible regulation, transparent standards, and support for smaller, emerging platforms. If that groundwork is laid, we could see a landscape where advertisers have more choice, brands get more control, and the grip of a few big players starts to loosen. But none of that is automatic. It all hinges on how seriously the industry responds.
Q. How do you see measurement evolving in the coming three years?
Measurement is shifting from hindsight to foresight. It used to be about reporting on what already happened, i.e., tracking impressions, clicks, conversions. But the tools are getting smarter, and the expectations are changing. Now, it’s about prediction, not just reflection.
We’re seeing platforms that can analyse data in real time and inform decisions on the fly. Dashboards are becoming more integrated, attribution models more accurate, and creative is being held to higher standards, not just for beauty, but for impact.
The question isn’t just “did we reach the audience?” It’s “did we actually move them?” That’s where measurement is headed, and it’s pushing everyone, brands and agencies alike, to think bigger and act sharper.
