MAM
Portfolio Night’s ‘All Star’ winner was Mayank Bhayana
MUMBAI: For the ones who want to create a mark in the creative world, 21 May was the night. Lowe Lintas and Partners hosted the Indian twelfth edition of the world’s largest advertising portfolio review-cum-recruitment event- Portfolio Night.
The event that was conducted simultaneously in 20 plus cities across the world sought to unite the advertising and design communities in every continent for a common purpose – to identify young and upcoming talent and mentor them on the opportunities that lay ahead.
Mayank Bhayana from Bangalore bagged the Portfolio Night – ‘All Star’ title from India and will be flown to New York to take part in a week-long creative challenge on a specific brief.
The evening saw an impressive turnout of 75 young creative aspirants who presented their work to top 25 creative directors of the country.
Sharing his views on the over-whelming candidate participation and turnout, Lowe Lintas and Partners CEO Joseph George said, “With advertising arguably having lost its monopoly over being the coolest job to have, it was critical that as an industry we kept looking at ways to spot talent who are not just promising but fans of the profession. It was also very gratifying that all the creative stars from across the industry agreed to participate without any hesitation whatsoever. With the kind of response that we received from the candidates as well as the creative directors, it demonstrates the industry’s shared priority of ensuring that this profession remains exciting and attractive to young talent.”
Lowe Lintas and Partners NCD Amer Jaleel said, “It was like the IPL of advertising. It was the place where raw ‘quickies’ and talented ‘big-hitters’ got spotted. There were many from the industry who were on a keen lookout for rising stars of the night. Seeing the enormous energy being exuded by the participants, I wished I too were playing under the floodlights!”
The agency’s NCD Arun Iyer added, “The event was a great opportunity for Lowe Lintas to give back to the community and the industry of advertising. The way the young creative guys came in and engaged the attention span of the CDs for over three hours was worth the whole effort. They not only got a sense of what the real world is all about, but also received enough encouragement and opportunities from a widely appreciated platform such as Portfolio Night.”
Extending his gratitude to the numerous clients who made it a point to support the event, George said, “It was heartening to see the speed with which the clients wanted to participate with us on Portfolio Night. We are thankful to them for realizing a shared passion of spotting young and aspiring talent and giving them the opportunity to see their dreams come true.”
Portfolio Night is a platform for young creative aspirants to have their work sampled by at least three top creative directors from the industry in a single evening. While it helps youngsters gain constructive feedback and guidance on their skill sets, the top Creative Directors get to spot potential talent.
For the review process, aspirants were divided into three batches and each aspirant got the opportunity to get their portfolio reviewed by three CDs. Each CD met three candidates individually for 15 minutes and reviewed their work, ideas and offered them valuable feedback.
The creative heads who reviewed the work at the event included Ogilvy & Mather executive chairman and creative director south Asia Piyush Pandey, Ogilvy & Mather NCDs Abhijit Avasthi & Rajiv Rao, Publicis CCO Bobby Pawar, Josy Paul, BBDO chairman & CCO Josy Paul, FCB Ulka NCD K S Chakravarty (Chax), TBWA India Nation head – art Deepak Singh, TBWA India CCO Parixit Bhattacharya, Scarecrow Communication ECD Kapil Tammal, Grey Worldwide NCD Malvika Mehra, McCann Worldgroup NCD Pradyumna Chauhan, Scarecrow Communication, founder/director Raghu Bhat, , Cartwheel Creative Consultancy owner Ramki D Ramkrishna, JWT NCD Tista Sen, Underdog founder Vikram Gaikwad, Contract India NCD Ashish Chakravarty.
The creative heads from Lowe Lintas who were part of the judging panel included Amer Jaleel, Arun Iyer, Shriram Iyer, Ashwin Varkey, Sagar Kapoor and Rajesh Ramaswamy.
As part of its association with Portfolio Night, India’s leading classifieds entity – Olx.in, will offer one candidate a chance to work as an intern for three months on a brief set up by the client. The candidate will be chosen from the final set of nominees shortlisted from the various individual stages.
This year’s Portfolio Night was supported by global sponsor – Shutterstock, Twitter and SquareSpace. In India, the event was supported by Godrej HIT, Idea Cellular, Tanishq, Micromax, Lifebuoy, OLX.in and Myntra who came onboard as Brand Sponsors for Portfolio Night.
MAM
Ad:tech honours 2026: Full list of winners announced
Expanded awards spotlight winners across 22 categories as industry doubles down on intelligent automation
NEW DELHI: Marketing’s tech elite took the spotlight as the ad:tech honours 2026 returned with a sharper focus on AI, data and immersive media, signalling how deeply technology now underpins brand strategy. Held at Yashobhoomi on March 17, the second edition drew industry leaders to celebrate innovation that is reshaping engagement and performance.
Presented with the International Advertising Association India chapter and new partner Huella, the awards expanded from 8 to 22 categories, tracking the rapid convergence of creativity, automation and analytics.
The winners’ list reads like a snapshot of marketing’s future. In affiliate and partner marketing, Lyxel & Flamingo – Boat and Paytm Ads – Giva took silver. Mobavenue Media Private Limited struck gold in AI-driven dynamic creative optimisation, alongside a silver for Laqshya Media Limited.
Creative AI collaboration saw Rediffusion Brand Solutions Private Limited win gold, with Saltinc Consulting Private Limited securing silver. Laqshya Media Limited continued its strong run, taking gold in AI conversation agents and adding multiple wins across categories, including silver in GenAI-led creative and both gold and silver in interactive DOOH campaigns for Tanishq and Tata Coffee.
Predictive AI honours went to Strong Metrics and Tyroo, both silver, while Orient Bell Limited picked up silver in immersive retail tech. In GenAI-led creative, Laqshya Media Limited, Salt – Kotak and Sumimoto each secured silver, reflecting the crowded race in generative creativity.
Publicis bagged silver in influencer management and gold in performance marketing, where it shared the stage with Arm Worldwide and The Trade Desk, both silver. Glad U Came Private Limited stood out with gold in influencer measurement and analytics.
Marketing automation saw CereOne Media Pvt. Ltd. and Globale Media win silver, while ADMOTT Private Limited claimed silver in OTT innovation.
Programmatic media categories highlighted the shift to advanced targeting and connected screens. Mobavenue Media Private Limited clinched gold in connected TV advertising, with Animmoov Digital Media Pvt Ltd – Asus and Lyxel and Flamingo taking silver. Cheggout Services Private Limited won silver in retail media advertising, while Paytm Ads – Versuni secured gold.
On social platforms, Vayner Media India took gold in community and UGC engagement, with Under 25 – Oppo winning silver. Segumento rounded off the list with silver in the innovation category.
Jaswant Singh, country managing director at ad:tech India, underscored the momentum, saying generative AI and data-driven decision-making are now central to marketing impact. Neena Dasgupta, IAA mancom member and chief executive and founder at The Salt Inc Consulting, added that the awards celebrate not just technology, but “the people, the creativity, and the relentless effort behind it.”
Backed by Comexposium Group, ad:tech New Delhi has long tracked digital disruption. Now, with the honours, it is rewarding those who are not just adapting to change but engineering it.
In an industry racing towards automation, the message from 2026 is unmistakable. The future of marketing will be written not just in ideas, but in algorithms.
