Chennai, 25th July 2026: The Advertising Club Madras celebrated the best in advertising, media and digital communications at the 44th edition of MADDYS, presented by Peps and powered by Star Vijay, held at Feathers – A Radha Hotel, Chennai.
Held under the theme KISS – Keep it Simple, Silly, this year’s awards recognised ideas that demonstrated the power of simplicity, originality and impactful storytelling.
MADDYS 2026 attracted entries from over 110 + agencies and clients across India and beyond. Following a rigorous two-stage judging process led by 6 Jury Chairs and 23 leading industry practitioners, 157 awards were presented, including 3 Grand Prix, 26 Gold, 44 Silver, 69 Bronze and 15 coveted special honours.
The biggest winners of the evening were:
Creative MADDYS
• Agency of the Year: Be Positive 24 Innovation Design Private Limited
• Client of the Year: The Ramco Cements Limited
• Blue Noodles Copywriter of the Year: Haridas Balakrishnan Nair
• C. P. Sajith Art Directors of the Year: Gokul Raj & Haridas Balakrishnan Nair
Digital MADDYS
• Agency of the Year: Digitally Inspired Media
• Client of the Year: The Hindu Group
Media MADDYS
• Agency of the Year: Digitally Inspired Media
• Client of the Year: JioStar India
Regional Pride (Tamil) MADDYS
• Agency of the Year: Happy Unicorn Creative Communications
• Client of the Year: JioStar India
• Art Director of the Year: Selvakumar V
• Copywriter of the Year: Arabbhi Athreya
Specialist Awards
• Film & Audio Craft Specialist of the Year: Happy Unicorn Creative Communications
• Design & Print Craft Specialist of the Year: Be Positive 24 Innovation Design Private Limited
Earlier in the evening, delegates were treated to a thought-provoking discussion titled “Have We Forgotten How to KISS?” featuring creative powerhouses and Maddys 2026 jury chairs Agnello Dias & Rajesh Ramaswamy (Ramsam), and last year’s jury chair Senthil Kumar, moderated by Gokul Krishnamoorthy, Jury Convenor and Process Auditor.
Surej Salim, President, 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, 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.”
The Advertising Club Madras thanked all its sponsors, partners, Jury Chairs, jurors, participating agencies and clients for making the 44th edition of MADDYS a resounding success.
