Mumbai: The Advertising Club has announced a series of new categories and honours for the 57th edition of the ABBY Awards 2026, reinforcing the platform’s focus on creative excellence, inclusivity, and global relevance. The awards will continue to be powered in partnership with The One Club for Creativity and The One Show.
Among the key additions this year are two new network-level honours — The ABBY Creative Network of the Year and The ABBY Media Network of the Year. The awards platform has also introduced Creative Client of the Year and Media Client of the Year categories, recognising clients whose brands collectively secure the highest number of points across Creative and Media ABBY categories respectively.
The Advertising Club has also introduced the Independent Agency of the Year honour as part of the expanded framework.
In line with evolving global creative trends and the growing role of digital and technology-led creativity, the ABBY Awards 2026 will feature two new Creative ABBY categories: Social Content & Influencer Marketing, and Creative Commerce, Use of Data and B2B.
Additionally, previously separate categories including Green ABBY, Red ABBY, and DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity) have now been consolidated under Sustainable Development Goals within Creative ABBY.
According to the organisers, the changes were developed collaboratively with some of India’s leading creative professionals, global jury members, agencies, and industry stakeholders to ensure the awards remain internationally aspirational and aligned with contemporary marketing and creative practices.
Speaking on the introduction of the new categories and honours, 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 50th 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.”
Commenting on the evolving framework of the awards, 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.”
The organisers also announced that beginning in 2026, trophies for winning entries in both Creative and Media ABBY categories will be jointly presented to agencies and clients on stage, further strengthening client participation within the awards ecosystem.
The ABBY Awards 2026 Powered by The One Club | The One Show will be held during Goafest 2026 from May 20 to 22, 2026, at Taj Cidade de Goa Horizon.
