~ Introduces Creative Network of the Year and Media Network of the Year Awards ~

~ Introduces Independent Agency of the Year ~

 ~ Introduces two new digital-based categories in Creative Abby Social Content & Influencer Marketing and Creative Commerce, Use of Data, B2B ~

~ Amalgamates Green Abby, Red Abby and Diversity Equality & Inclusivity into Sustainable Development Goals in Creative Abby ~

May 18, 2026; Mumbai, India: The Advertising Club (TAC) has announced the introduction of new categories for ABBY Awards 2026, further strengthening the Awards’ commitment to creative excellence while also continuing its partnership with The One Club | The One Show.

The 2026 ABBY Award marks the addition of 2 new trophies at a network level, being presented to The ABBY Creative Network of the Year and The ABBY Media Network of the Year. Additionally, the 57^th edition of the awards also witnesses the introduction of the Creative Client of the Year and Media Client of the Year Awards. This award recognises the client whose brands collectively secure the highest number of points respectively across Media and Creative ABBY, further driving inclusion and deepening participation from clients across sectors. Another key awards is the introduction of Independent Agency of the Year.

Responding to trends in top global creative festivals, The ABBY Awards Governing Council took a step forward this year for its 57^th Edition of ABBY Awards by inviting some of India’s most awarded creative leaders, global jury members, agencies and constituents to co-create and bring ideas forward to ensure the awards continually evolve, are ahead of the curve, and thus internationally aspirational and relevant. 

The Ad Club, together with the industry, co-created new trending categories, keeping in mind the growing influence of Digital and Technology in creativity. ABBY Awards 2026 has also introduced 2 new Creative ABBY categories with Social Content & Influencer Marketing, and Creative Commerce, Use of Data and B2B. 

In addition, the erstwhile categories Green ABBY, Red ABBY, DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity) have been amalgamated into Sustainable Development Goals under Creative ABBY.

Speaking on the introduction of new categories to the ABBY Awards Powered by The One Club | The One Show, Dheeraj Sinha, President, The Advertising Club, and CEO, McCann India, said, “Abbys are the most definitive creative and media awards platform in India, now in their 50^th year. This is the only award show by the industry and for the industry. This year we’ve made several upgrades to the award platform, we’ve brought in a big four as a process consultant, introduced new categories to align the awards to modern marketing. And most importantly introduced trophies for the client and the client of the year trophy. I am excited about the Abbys 2026 and look forward to a great awards season.”

Emphasising the continued evolution of ABBY Awards Powered by The One Club | The One Show, Ajay Kakar, Chairperson, ABBY Awards 2026, said, “As the industry grows more global, our benchmarks must evolve too. This year’s updates to the ABBY Awards Powered by The One Club | The One Show bring a more inclusive and internationally aligned framework. We look forward to celebrating work that competes at the highest level.”

Kickstarting 2026, trophies on stage will be presented both together to the winning agency and the client for the winning work for both Creative and Media ABBY, further strengthening participation from clients.

The ABBY Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on May 20, 21 and 22, 2026 at Taj Cidade de Goa Horizon.

The post The Advertising Club introduces new categories and Awards in ABBY Awards 2026 appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

Jessica Apellaniz is Wieden+Kennedy México’s first Chief Creative Officer, brought in to help build the agency—and its point of view—from the ground up when the office opened in México City in 2023. She oversees all creative work across the office, partnering with brands like Nike, Ford, Uber, and AB InBev to make ideas that show up in culture.

Before W+K, Jessica was CCO for Latin America at Ogilvy, where she led teams across the region and helped deliver award-winning work for clients including Coca-Cola, KFC, Mondelez, Mazda, American Express, Nestlé, and more. Her leadership contributed to Cannes Lions, D&AD, and One Show wins, as well as to Ogilvy Latin America being named Regional Network of the Year in 2022.

Jessica’s path into creativity started behind the scenes as a producer, including a stint at MTV LATAM, before she moved into copywriting and never looked back. As one of the few women leading creative at a regional level in Latin America—and a mother of two—she’s focused on building teams that reflect the real world and pushing the industry toward a more balanced, inclusive future.

The post Jessica Apellaniz Appointed as Jury Chair for the ABBY Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

Raj Kamble has been appointed Jury Chair at Abby Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show in the Outdoor category.

Raj Kamble, Founder & CCO of Famous Innovations has been appointed Jury Chair at Abby Awards 2026 powered by One Club / One Show in the Outdoor category.

Raj Kamble is a gold-medallist in design and art from the Sir JJ School of Arts. His 25-year career has taken him from Lowe India to Lowe London, Lowe New York, BBDO New York and back to Mumbai as Managing Partner, BBH India. During this time, his work for brands like Stella Artois, Unilever, Nestle, P&G, Saab, Diageo, Vaseline, Burger King and Google had achieved both critical acclaim and business results.

One of the most awarded and globally recognized Indians in advertising, Raj has over 150 awards to his name including several Cannes and One Show golds.

In 2013, he founded an independent creative agency – Famous Innovations. Today, Famous is a 200 plus people agency across Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, and holds the title of nine-time winner of South Asia Independent Agency of the Year in a row, as well as Digital Agency of the Year, Design Agency of the Year and Green Agency of the Year.

Raj is a frequent lecturer at institutes such as the Kellogg Institute of Management and Columbia University. He is the Director of Miami Ad School in India. He is part of a think tank with the Government to make India WiFi-friendly.

He plays a prominent role in shaping the future of education in India as part of the Board of Governors at Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, Board of Governors at MIT-Pune and Academic Advisory Board at National Institute of Design

Senthil Kumar has been appointed Jury Chair in Abby Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show in the Integrated category.

Senthil Kumar, Creative Consultant and Film Director has been appointed Jury Chair at Abby Awards 2026 powered by One Club / One Show in the Integrated category.

Senthil is a storyteller at heart and was Chief Creative Officer at JWT (WT/VML) for the last 10 years in a career spanning 25 years at w the World’s Largest Advertising Agency.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES gave Senthil the coveted title of ‘Lion Hunter’ for winning India’s first Gold Lions in Film & Film Craft at Cannes. He holds the record of 27 Cannes Lions, also winning India’s first One Show Gold Pencils in Film, Film Craft and Film Innovation along with 24 D&AD pencils including the hallowed Yellow Pencil, the Spikes Asia Grand Prix in 2024 and Adfest Lotus Roots Grand Prix’, Clio Golds and New York Festival Gold Medals

With over 300 International Awards, Senthil is the most awarded writer, creative director and film director in Indian advertising, IAA, The International Advertising Association has celebrated Senthil as “Agency Creative Head of the Year” in 2025.

Senthil served as the Global Creative Director of Unilever Radiant across 18 countries in the emerging markets of Africa, Asia Pacific and South America. He has been involved with the launch of The Times Of India: A Day in the Life of Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy editions and the Times Kerala Edition, the celebrated Star Sports Tamil Channel Launch, Pro Kabaddi League launch campaigns, Digital First Campaigns for Facebook Thumbstoppers and Facebook Watch in the metaverse.

Senthil has written & directed ‘A Salaam To Kalam’ biopic on the childhood of President Abdul Kalam, the United Nations Documentary Feature on the world’s last indigenous tribes ‘Save Our Sentinels’ and the interactive film ‘Blink and They’re Gone’ for the Jimmy Nelson Foundation.

He has written and directed the #BleedBlue Nike Parallel Journeys and Nike Make Every Yard Count spots which feature in the Nike Global Hall of Fame and recognised as India’s most awarded film.

Niraj Ruparel has been appointed Jury Chair at Abby Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show in the Technology category.

Niraj Ruparel, Creative Technology Lead at WPP, WPP Media, India has been appointed Jury Chair at Abby Awards 2026 powered by One Club / One Show in the Technology category.

Niraj Ruparel is WPP India’s Creative Tech Maverick, leading a bold new wave of innovation where AI, immersive tech and spatial experiences collide to power the future of brand storytelling.

At the helm of creative technology across WPP India and WPP Media, Niraj is known for building what’s next—transformative work that spans voice AI for rural India, teleportation cafés and AI-powered inclusion tools for underserved communities.

His mission: to make technology intuitive, inspiring, and inclusive—not just for the digitally elite, but for the 1.5 billion stories that make up Bharat.

Niraj and his teams at WPP in India are globally awarded innovators, with multiple Cannes Lions, Cannes Titanium, Spikes Asia ,Kyoorius and Effies and has served as a jury member at top award forums.

Niraj is also a respected evangelist of creative technology, known for sparking cross-agency collaborations and building industry-first solutions that scale.

The ABBY Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club |The One Show is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on May 20, 21 and 22, 2026 at Taj Cidade de Goa Horizon.

The post Raj Kamble, Senthil Kumar and Niraj Ruparel Appointed as Jury Chairs for the ABBY Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

~ Entries now open for creative, media and broadcaster & publisher categories ~ 

February 04, 2025; Mumbai, India: The Advertising Club has announced the 57^th edition of its marquee ABBY Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show. Set to take place at Goafest 2026, The ABBY Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show is the gold standard for creative and marketing excellence across India and Southeast Asia. Setting the countdown, The Advertising Club also today unveils the timelines and eligibility criteria. Entries for the prestigious awards open on February 02, 2026.

The awards invite professionals from the creative and media industries to showcase their ground-breaking work crafted for the 11-month timeframe between April 01, 2025, and February 28, 2026, across Media, Creative and Broadcaster & Publisher categories. Entries across all categories will be accepted until March 2, 2026.

Aligned with global standards, judging for the ABBY Awards 2026 ensures a rigorous and credible evaluation process. True to its legacy, the ABBYs remain the only awards of, for and by the industry, with senior industry leaders as a part of the process, with greater client participation expected across all stages of evaluation.

Speaking on the announcement, Ajay Kakar, Chairperson, ABBY Awards 2026, said, “The ABBY Awards have evolved into a strong platform for recognising creative and marketing excellence from our region. Our partnership with The One Club is an important step forward in taking this work to a global stage, giving it greater visibility and recognition beyond local markets. This year, the ABBYs are being reimagined in close collaboration with industry leaders and creative giants, with greater client involvement and an exceptional line-up of jury chairs expected.  We look forward to continuing this collaboration and further strengthening the opportunities for talent and ideas from Southeast Asia to be seen and celebrated worldwide.”

The post The Advertising Club Invites Entries for ABBY Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show  appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.