Wavemaker, ABP take top honours

While the annual advertising razzmatazz got off to a slightly turbulent start, with heavy rain and consequent flight delays, towards the end of day one, the mood across Cidade de Goa became celebratory when the winners in the Media and Publisher categories were awarded.

In the media category, media investment firm GroupM dominated as its agencies took the top three spots. Wavemaker was named Media Agency of the Year for the second consecutive time, with a tally of 19 metals, including one Grand Prix, six gold, eight silver and four bronze. In second place was Mindshare India with 13 awards, including six gold, and EssenceMediacom came in third with a haul of six metals.

There was a total of 23 gold metals in the Media category, 21 silvers and 19 bronze. Wavemaker bagged the only Grand Prix of the night for ‘India’s New Local Language’, the campaign executed for Dream11. The campaign promoted Dream11’s services for various Indian languages such as Bengali, Marathi, Telugu and more.

In the Publisher category, ABP won the Publisher of the Year for the third consecutive time with a total of five metals, including one gold, three silver and one bronze. In second place was Bennett Coleman & Co with a tally of five awards, including a gold, while Jagran Prakashan came in third with three metals, of which two were gold.

Earlier in the day, the festivities kicked off with a spirited performance by Indian singer and rapper Mika Singh. This was followed by an address by author and chief growth officer of Publicis Groupe, Rishad Tobaccowala on staying relevant in the age of machines. He spoke about the need to reimagine businesses by embracing AI and rethinking storytelling.
He asserted that marketing is AI-proof since it is a mix of data and emotional storytelling.