Advertising Club Madras honoured some of the country's top advertising, media and digital work at the 44th edition of the MADDYS Awards 2026, recognising agencies, brands and creative professionals across multiple disciplines.
Held in Chennai under the theme "KISS – Keep it Simple, Silly," this year's awards celebrated work that demonstrated simplicity, originality and effective storytelling. The event attracted entries from more than 110 agencies and brands from India and overseas.
Following a two-stage judging process led by six jury chairs and 23 industry professionals, a total of 157 awards were presented, including three Grand Prix, 26 Gold, 44 Silver, 69 Bronze and 15 special honours.
Be Positive 24 Innovation Design was named Creative Agency of the Year, while The Ramco Cements Limited received the Creative Client of the Year title. Haridas Balakrishnan Nair won Blue Noodles Copywriter of the Year, while Gokul Raj and Haridas Balakrishnan Nair shared the C.P. Sajith Art Directors of the Year award.
Digitally Inspired Media emerged as the biggest winner across the digital and media categories, taking home both Digital Agency of the Year and Media Agency of the Year. The Hindu Group was named Digital Client of the Year, while JioStar India secured the Media Client of the Year and Regional Pride (Tamil) Client of the Year honours.
Happy Unicorn Creative Communications was recognised as Regional Pride (Tamil) Agency of the Year and also won Film & Audio Craft Specialist of the Year. Selvakumar V was named Regional Pride (Tamil) Art Director of the Year, while Arabbhi Athreya received the Copywriter of the Year award in the same category.
Be Positive 24 Innovation Design also received the Design & Print Craft Specialist of the Year recognition.
The event also featured a panel discussion titled "Have We Forgotten How to KISS?", featuring jury chairs Agnello Dias and Rajesh Ramaswamy, along with former jury chair Senthil Kumar. The session was moderated by Gokul Krishnamoorthy, jury convenor and process auditor.
Surej Salim, president of the Advertising Club Madras, said, "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. Congratulations to every winner, finalist and participant for raising the bar and making this one of our strongest editions yet."
Kavitha Srinivasan, secretary of the Advertising Club Madras, added, "MADDYS 2026 has been a celebration of creativity, craftsmanship and collaboration. We thank our Jury Chairs, jurors, partners, sponsors and every participating agency and client for making this edition a memorable one. Congratulations to all the winners, and we look forward to welcoming the industry back for an even bigger MADDYS 2027."