The Advertising Club has introduced new categories for Creative Abby 2026, updating its awards framework to reflect changes across digital, commerce and brand-building ecosystems. The revised entry form has gone live on the official website.
The awards have continued their partnership with The One Club and The One Show. The last date for submissions has been set as April 06, 2026. Work eligible for participation has been required to be released between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. The results have been scheduled to be announced and presented at Goafest 2026.
The Abby Awards Governing Council has consulted a group of highly awarded creative professionals from India, many of whom have served as jury members at global festivals, to refine this year’s categories and judging process.
Two new categories have been introduced:
1. Social Content and Influencer Marketing
This category has covered digital creation, content collaboration and influencer-led community building.
2. Creative Commerce, Use of Data and B2B
This category has focused on innovations across online and offline commerce, payment solutions, data-led innovation in channels, creative B2B initiatives and brand experiences.
Both categories have been designed to reward craft and quality of impact rather than pure effectiveness metrics.
Seven sub-categories under Digital have been removed following a rationalisation exercise. In addition, three social good verticals, Green Abby, Red Abby and Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity (DEI), have been merged into a single category titled Sustainability and Inclusion.
The Mobile category has been discontinued, as digital categories have encompassed mobile-related sub-categories. The newly introduced Social Content and Influencer Marketing vertical has also covered most mobile-originated digital content.
A new honour titled ‘Client of the Year’ has been introduced to recognise the client whose brands have secured the maximum number of points.
The computation method for ‘Creative Agency of the Year’ has also been revised. Previously awarded to the agency with the highest points across eight traditional creative categories, Print (2), Film (2), OOH, Integrated, Audio and Digital, the recognition has now been extended to agencies scoring the maximum points across all 18 creative categories, excluding Video Craft and Young Maverick Abby.
“Goafest has always been synonymous with creativity, collaboration, and industry excellence. The ABBY Awards Powered by One Club continue to push boundaries, setting new creative benchmarks year after year. Abby Awards being in its 57th year, continue to raise the bar, and this year’s edition will be even more inspiring, bringing together the brightest minds in the industry.” — Dheeraj Sinha, President, The Advertising Club, and CEO McCann India.
“We have introduced two new categories and merged, rationalized and deleted some categories. For the very first time we have partnered and co-created with creative luminaries of the industry for categories. We are truly grateful to the continued support of One Club and One Show towards conducting our judging process for the last 5 years. Our thanks to the widespread participation of both agencies and client companies year after year,” said Ajay Kakar, Chairperson, ABBY Awards 2026.
