The Advertising Club introduces new categories for Creative ABBY 2026; entries close April 6

The Advertising Club (TAC) has introduced new categories for Creative ABBY 2026 and revised several existing ones. The updated entry form is available on the Club’s website. The awards continue their partnership with The One Club | The One Show.

The last date for submission is April 6, 2026. Work released between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026 is eligible. The results will be declared and presented at Goafest 2026.

New Categories

Two new categories have been introduced:

• Social Content and Influencer Marketing – Focused on digital content creation, influencer collaborations and community-led campaigns.
  
  
• Creative Commerce, Use of Data and B2B – Covers online and offline commerce, payment solutions, data-led innovation, B2B communication and brand experience.
  
  

Both categories will assess craft and quality of impact rather than pure effectiveness metrics.

Category Changes

Seven sub-categories under Digital have been removed.

The social-good categories — Green ABBY, Red ABBY and Diversity, Equality & Inclusivity (DEI) — have been merged into one category titled Sustainability and Inclusion.

The Mobile category has been discontinued, with mobile-related work now included under Digital and the new Social Content and Influencer Marketing vertical.

Client of the Year

A new Client of the Year category has been introduced. It will recognise the client whose brands earn the highest number of points.

Creative Agency of the Year Criteria Revised

The method of calculating Creative Agency of the Year has been revised. Earlier, the award was based on points from eight traditional creative categories — Print (2), Film (2), OOH, Integrated, Audio and Digital. It will now be based on points across all 18 creative categories, excluding Video Craft and Young Maverick ABBY.

Dheeraj Sinha, President of The Advertising Club and CEO of McCann India, said the awards continue to evolve with the industry and enter their 57th year in 2026.

Ajay Kakar, Chairperson, ABBY Awards 2026, said the categories were developed in consultation with senior creative leaders and thanked The One Club and The One Show for their continued support in the judging process.