The opening day of the ABBY Awards recognised impactful work across media and publisher categories. The winning entries reflected innovative media strategy, data-led planning, creative execution and effective cross-platform delivery.
EssenceMediacom, a part of WPP Media, won Media Agency of the Year, surpassing Wavemaker India and Mindshare India with 88 points and 14 metals. The agency was celebrated for campaigns such as ‘When Toofan Hit the Streets’, ‘India’s Transaction Story’ and ‘Harley-Davidson: RIDING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT’. While Wavemaker stood second with 76 points and 11 metals, Mindshare also made it to top three with 66 points and 10 wins.
WPP Media had yet another spotlight moment as it took home the trophy for Network Agency of the Year, winning 242 points with 37 metals. Omnicom Media and Tribes Communication secured their sports in top three, with 108 and 66 points respectively.
Commenting on the dual win, Navin Khemka, President - Client Solutions, WPP Media South Asia said, “It is a phenomenal feeling. We have been working really hard. Across all our clients, we have won gold, silver and bronze awards. It just shows the good quality of work happening on the agency side. I am happy for my team. All of them have put in the effort and it is showing in this trophy here.”
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Beyond the agencies, brands were also recognised for their campaigns with a new award category—Client of the Year. It recognised the client whose brands collectively secured the highest number of points. The Coca-Cola Company won the honour, securing 46 points and 8 metals. Expressing gratitude for the award, Shantanu Gangane, IMX Head – Coca Cola India Southwest Asia said, “Thank you on behalf of our entire company. We feel extremely excited and proud to be a part of Goafest 2026 and ABBY Awards. We are also grateful to the entire team who is working hard at the head office, and to EssenceMediacom, who is also our partner agency for media.”
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Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. stood second in the category, securing 36 points and 5 metals, followed by Birla Opus Paints.
Under the publisher categories, Jagran Prakashan Ltd took home the top honour, winning Publisher of the Year award. They secured 8 metals, winning gold in categories such as ‘Best marketing of a printed newspaper/edition’ and ‘Best promotion of a CSR/Cause-related marketing initiative in traditional or online space’.
Commenting on the win, Rahul Wanchoo, General Manager - Strategy and Brand Development, Dainik Jagran said, “It is an honour to have received the Publisher of the Year award here at the ABBYs after winning the highest number of metals (in the category). It is a validation for what we have been doing in the past one year. Now, idea is not the problem—people have lots of ideas. What matters today is how ideas are executed. Kudos to the team that works 24 x 7 to make this happen for our readers, and to all the stakeholders, including the advertisers!”
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The Hindu Group stood second with 4 wins in the Publisher category, followed by ABP Pvt. Ltd. with 2 metals.
Additionally, Tribes Communication bagged the Media Grand Prix for 'The Barefoot Journey' campaign created for Kansai Nerolac Paints, which was recognised for innovative product communication.
