India
Advertising Club Madras Crowns India’s Finest Creative Work at 44th MADDYS 2026: The Advertising Club Madras celebrated India’s finest advertising, media and digital communication work at the 44th edition of MADDYS 2026, held at Feathers – A Radha Hotel in Chennai.
Presented by Peps and powered by Star Vijay, the prestigious awards brought together leading agencies, brands, creative professionals and industry veterans from across India and beyond. This year’s edition was built around the theme “KISS – Keep it Simple, Silly,” spotlighting creative ideas that demonstrated the enduring power of simplicity, originality and impactful storytelling.
MADDYS 2026 attracted entries from more than 110 agencies and clients. Following a rigorous two-stage judging process led by six Jury Chairs and 23 leading industry practitioners, a total of 157 awards were presented, comprising 3 Grand Prix, 26 Gold, 44 Silver, 69 Bronze and 15 special honours.
Digitally Inspired Media Leads Digital and Media Categories
Among the evening’s biggest winners was Digitally Inspired Media, which emerged as Agency of the Year in both the Digital MADDYS and Media MADDYS categories.
The Hindu Group was named Digital MADDYS Client of the Year, while JioStar India secured the prestigious Media MADDYS Client of the Year title.
In the Regional Pride (Tamil) MADDYS, Happy Unicorn Creative Communications emerged as Agency of the Year, while JioStar India was named Client of the Year.
Be Positive 24 Takes Creative MADDYS Honours
The Creative MADDYS category saw Be Positive 24 Innovation Design Private Limited take the top honour as Agency of the Year, while The Ramco Cements Limited was crowned Client of the Year.
Individual creative excellence was also recognised, with Haridas Balakrishnan Nair receiving the Blue Noodles Copywriter of the Year award. Gokul Raj and Haridas Balakrishnan Nair jointly won the C. P. Sajith Art Directors of the Year honour.
Strong Showing for Tamil Creative Excellence
The Regional Pride (Tamil) category highlighted the strength and originality of regional-language creativity. Alongside Happy Unicorn Creative Communications’ Agency of the Year win and JioStar India’s Client of the Year recognition, Selvakumar V was named Art Director of the Year, while Arabbhi Athreya won Copywriter of the Year.
Happy Unicorn Creative Communications also took home the Film & Audio Craft Specialist of the Year honour, while Be Positive 24 Innovation Design Private Limited was recognised as Design & Print Craft Specialist of the Year.
Industry Leaders Debate the Power of Simplicity
Earlier in the evening, MADDYS 2026 featured a thought-provoking conversation titled “Have We Forgotten How to KISS?”
The discussion brought together creative leaders and MADDYS 2026 Jury Chairs Agnello Dias and Rajesh Ramaswamy (Ramsam), alongside last year’s Jury Chair Senthil Kumar. The session was moderated by Gokul Krishnamoorthy, Jury Convenor and Process Auditor.
The conversation explored whether the advertising industry has moved too far toward complexity in an increasingly technology-driven environment, and whether the most powerful ideas continue to be those that communicate a simple thought with clarity and emotional impact.
Surej Salim, President, Advertising Club Madras, said that the awards once again demonstrated that creativity is not restricted to large agency networks.
“MADDYS has always been about one thing—celebrating ideas on their merit. This year, we witnessed work from independent creative boutiques standing shoulder to shoulder with the country’s largest agency networks, proving once again that great ideas can come from anywhere,” he said, congratulating the winners, finalists and participants for making the 44th edition one of the strongest editions yet.
Kavitha Srinivasan, Secretary, Advertising Club Madras, described the 2026 edition as a celebration of creativity, craftsmanship and collaboration.
She thanked the Jury Chairs, jurors, partners, sponsors, participating agencies and clients, while congratulating all the winners and expressing anticipation for an even bigger MADDYS 2027.
With its 44th edition, MADDYS once again reinforced its position as an important platform for recognising creative excellence across advertising, digital, media, regional communication and specialist craft. The awards also highlighted the growing influence of independent agencies and regional creativity alongside established national players.
The Advertising Club Madras extended its appreciation to all sponsors, partners, jury members, agencies and clients whose participation contributed to the success of MADDYS 2026.
Jurors and shortlisted work: MADDYS 2026 – Advertising Club Madras
