Panaji: The ABBY Awards 2026 at Goafest 2026 announced the winners across Creative Network Agency of the Year, Creative Independent Agency of the Year, Creative Agency of the Year and Client of the Year categories on Day 3, recognising agencies, networks and brands that delivered standout creative performances across the festival.
A total of 499 entries were shortlisted for the jury discussion round on Day 3, with 367 entries receiving awards, including merits. Nearly 46% of the shortlisted work secured medals. Agencies submitted entries across more than 129 unique brands in these categories, judged by a panel comprising 115 judges and 12 Jury Chairs. The metal tally for the day stood at 27 Gold, 80 Silver, 122 Bronze and 138 Merit awards.
Publicis Groupe wins Creative Network Agency of the Year
Publicis Groupe emerged as the Creative Network Agency of the Year with a commanding 796 points and 172 awards overall, including one Grand Prix, 14 Gold, 51 Silver, 77 Bronze and 29 Merit metals.
The network delivered one of the most dominant performances of the festival, significantly outpacing competing networks across categories.
Omnicom Media secured second position with 300 points from 74 awards, including seven Gold, 13 Silver, 29 Bronze and 25 Merit honours.
WPP followed with 74 points, supported by two Grand Prix wins, five Gold, five Silver and four Merit awards.
Other networks recognised in the category included Havas Worldwide India Pvt. Ltd., HAKUHODO INC, JIOSTAR INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED and Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
Enormous tops Creative Independent Agency of the Year rankings
Enormous emerged as the Creative Independent Agency of the Year with 372 points and 96 awards, including five Gold, 22 Silver, 31 Bronze and 38 Merit metals.
Tribes Communications PVT LTD secured second position with 134 points from 33 awards, while White Rivers Media and Visteria shared the next position with 60 points each.
Visteria’s tally included four Gold medals, making it one of the strongest Gold-winning independent agencies on Day 3.
Other agencies recognised in the independent category included BMEG Private Limited, Maitri Advertising Works, Medulla Communications, Drink Water Design Pvt. ltd. and Good Morning Films.
The category reflected the growing competitiveness of independent creative agencies, many of which continued to deliver high-impact campaigns alongside larger multinational agency networks.
Leo India crowned Creative Agency of the Year
Leo India secured the Creative Agency of the Year title with a dominant 640 points and 134 awards, including one Grand Prix, 12 Gold, 44 Silver, 57 Bronze and 20 Merit metals.
The agency’s strong showing across multiple categories reinforced its position as one of the standout performers at this year’s ABBY Awards.
Enormous followed in second place with 372 points and 96 awards, while McCann India secured third position with 146 points, supported by one Grand Prix, four Gold and 20 Silver metals.
Tribes Communications Pvt. Ltd. also delivered a strong performance with 134 points and two Grand Prix wins, while BBH Communication India Pvt. Ltd. collected 122 points.
Other agencies recognised in the category included Kinnect, 22Feet Tribal Worldwide, Mindshare India and L&K Saatchi & Saatchi.
The Creative Agency of the Year rankings highlighted the broad spread of work across storytelling, design, media integration, digital innovation and experiential creativity.
PepsiCo India named Client of the Year
PepsiCo India emerged as Client of the Year with 150 points from 31 awards, including one Grand Prix, four Gold, nine Silver, nine Bronze and eight Merit honours.
Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. and Krafton followed jointly with 134 points each. Flipkart secured 34 awards overall, while Krafton recorded three Gold and 14 Silver medals.
Kenvue ranked next with 92 points, followed by HDFC MUTUAL FUND with 84 points and P&G India with 82 points.
Other leading brands recognised included Britannia Industries Limited, Lenovo India, Reckitt Benckiser, India, Spotify India and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
The Client of the Year rankings underscored how brands across FMCG, technology, finance, entertainment and consumer products increasingly leveraged creative partnerships and integrated campaigns to drive visibility and engagement.
“Winning the inaugural Creative Network of the Year is a powerful recognition of the breadth, consistency and impact of our creative work. Alongside Leo India’s continued Agency of the Year momentum, this win reflects more than a strong awards season – it signals the scale of ideas being built across our agencies for a wide repertoire of clients, with work that delivers both creative excellence and business impact. What is especially exciting is that India is no longer just creating for local markets; our teams are helping shape global solutions and setting new benchmarks for creative effectiveness worldwide. This recognition belongs to the incredible teams who continue to push the boundaries of modern creativity every day, and to the clients who place their trust in us.” Anupriya Acharya, CEO Publicis Groupe South Asia
Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe – South Asia and Chairman, Leo South Asia adds “Winning the Creative Network of the Year’ is deeply gratifying because it reflects the culture of excellence we have incubated throughout our creative agencies. Across categories and clients, our focus has been on solving real problems, shaping culture, and building work that drives business value. This is a proud moment for every team, partner, and client who has believed in the power of ambitious, transformative ideas. Kudos to all the amazing teams at Leo, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH and Publicis Production.”
Amitesh Rao, CEO, South Asia – Leo said “The Creative Agency of the Year win comes on the back of 6 specialist agency awards including Technology, Health, Direct, Digital, Brand Activation and Brand Experiences. That’s an incredible body of work across brands, categories, teams and geographies. And another big win for us this evening, is our client PepsiCo being named ‘Client of the Year’ – it truly reiterates our belief that the best work is born out of strong of partnerships. Congratulations to all our client partners and the talented teams at Leo.”
Collectively, the Day 3 winners reflected the scale and diversity of creative excellence at ABBY Awards 2026, with multinational networks, independent agencies and leading advertisers all competing aggressively across storytelling, media, digital, design and brand experience disciplines.
