Mumbai: The strongest campaigns do more than entertain. They connect with consumers through familiar human truths, embed the brand naturally within the narrative and create lasting impact through culturally resonant storytelling.
Kantar, a marketing data and analytics company, has unveiled the winners of the Kantar Creative Effectiveness Awards (CEA) India 2026, recognising the most creative and effective advertising from across the country.
The awards are based on the industry’s most powerful jury: the consumers themselves. Drawing on Kantar’s testing of more than 13,000 creatives globally in 2025, including over 1,500 in India, the awards identify the campaigns that resonated most strongly with audiences and delivered meaningful business impact.
This year’s report showcases more than 250 ads evaluated across categories, audiences, regions and media platforms, highlighting the creative approaches that are driving effectiveness in India today.
The theme for this year, ROOTED in India, reflects a key insight from Kantar’s analysis: the most effective advertising combines strong storytelling, cultural relevance and seamless brand integration.
Kantar’s analysis found that the best-performing campaigns consistently deliver on three dimensions:
Capturing attention through relatable human truths
Driving consideration through clear and relevant brand integration
Building lasting brand equity through culturally resonant storytelling
This year, 10 campaigns were recognised across four categories: Hindi Speaking Markets, Non-Hindi Speaking Markets, Digital and Bharat Connect (which honours advertising that successfully connects with both urban and rural audiences).
Kantar Creative Effectiveness Awards India 2026 Winners:
Commenting on this year’s winners, Soumya Mohanty, Managing Director & Chief Solutions Officer, South Asia, Kantar, said, “Across categories, brands and audiences, this year’s winners shared one thing in common: they were built on a deep understanding of Indian consumers. Whether through community, culture, aspiration, identity or everyday life, the most effective campaigns transformed authentic human insights into compelling brand stories. Their success demonstrates that creativity is most powerful when it feels relevant, meaningful and deeply connected to people’s lives.”
Prasanna Kumar, EVP & Head of Creative, Kantar said, “The way marketing effectiveness is built is fundamentally changing. As media becomes increasingly fragmented, success will depend less on creating more content and more on creating connected creative ecosystems, where ideas, channels and executions work seamlessly together. In this environment, clear and consistent brand expression across every touchpoint becomes the foundation for driving meaningful impact and growth.”
