MAM
PR Pundit Havas Red returns with ‘ALCHEMY’ season two
Mumbai: After witnessing a tremendous response from budding PR practitioners in the maiden edition of its annual case study challenge – ‘ALCHEMY’ in 2023, PR Pundit Havas Red is ready to welcome participation to season two. ‘ALCHEMY’ is a unique competition that aims to encourage creativity, strategic thinking, and practical problem-solving skills among the next generation of communicators.
Season two of ‘ALCHEMY’ promises even more excitement and learning, wherein, participants can expect to engage with real-world scenarios. As part of the process, the participants will be given a situational challenge to develop an effective communications programme to demonstrate their insightful thinking fusing academic knowledge with practical application.
A prestigious jury of leading marketing and corporate communication experts will judge the entries on various pre-identified parameters.
Three winner duo teams will get an opportunity to attend one of the industry’s most coveted events PRAXIS 2024 and the front rankers will be invited and hosted for an all-expense paid trip to an international communications conference. The winners from ALCHEMY season one 2023 – Vasu Sharma and Rhea Vasudev are fully geared up to attend the SABRE APAC AWARDS 2024 in Singapore in September as part of their gratification.
Commenting on the initiative, PR Pundit Havas Red CEO Archana Jain said, “In today’s world, role of PR and communications has evolved beyond just crafting vanilla narratives and now demands a mastery of truth told well. We are thrilled to launch Season 2 of our innovative case study challenge ‘ALCHEMY’ for young practitioners who not only possess creative minds but also know how to thrive in this dynamic environment. Our previous season received an overwhelming response, showcasing real creative thinking. We look forward to another successful season this year.”
The case study challenge is free (no entry fee) and open to all PR practitioners aged 30 or below who are residents of India via a process of self-nomination. ALCHEMY welcomes participation from a two-member team of any combination (from a PR firm and/or corporate background/or a brand or participative collaboration in any other form).
For more details, please log on to https://reputationtoday.in/alchemy/ interested candidates can send their intent of participation at alchemy@prpundithavasred.com.
The last date to receive nominations is 23 August 2024.
AD Agencies
The Advertising Club adds new categories to Creative Abby 2026
Awards expand global focus; entries open until 6 April
MUMBAI: The Advertising Club has unveiled a fresh set of categories for Creative Abby 2026, sharpening the awards’ global edge while keeping creativity firmly centre stage.
The updated entry form, reflecting all category refinements, is now live on the Club’s website. The awards continue their partnership with The One Club and The One Show. Entries close on April 6, 2026, and eligible work must have been released between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. Winners will be announced at Goafest 2026.
This year, the Abby Awards Governing Council went a step further, inviting some of India’s most awarded creative leaders and global jury veterans to help reimagine the categories and judging process. The result is a sharper, more future facing framework.
Two new categories have been introduced:
Social content and influencer marketing
Recognising the fast expanding universe of digital creators, collaborations and community building.
Creative commerce, use of data and B2B
Celebrating innovation across online and offline commerce, payment solutions, data driven channels, creative B2B and immersive brand experiences.
Both categories are designed to reward craft and quality of impact, rather than pure effectiveness metrics.
In a bid to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, seven sub categories within the Digital vertical have been removed after being deemed redundant.
Three social good verticals, Green Abby, Red Abby and Diversity Equality and Inclusivity, have now been merged into a single category titled Sustainability and Inclusion, bringing purpose driven work under one cohesive umbrella.
The Mobile category has been discontinued, reflecting the reality that mobile is no longer a niche medium but embedded across digital formats. The new Social Content and Influencer Marketing vertical is expected to absorb much of this work.
Acknowledging the role of marketers in driving creative excellence, a new honour titled Client of the Year has been introduced. It will be awarded to the client whose brands accumulate the highest number of points.
There is also a key change in how Creative Agency of the Year is calculated. Previously determined by points across eight traditional categories such as Print, Film, OOH, Integrated, Audio and Digital, the award will now consider performance across 18 creative categories, excluding Video Craft and Young Maverick Abby. The shift broadens the competitive canvas and reflects the industry’s expanding definition of creativity.
The Advertising Club president and McCann India CEO Dheeraj Sinha said Goafest has long stood for collaboration and creative excellence. He noted that in its 57th year, the Abby Awards continue to raise the bar and bring together the brightest minds in the business.
Abby Awards 2026 chairperson Ajay Kakar, added that the categories had been co created with leading creative luminaries for the first time. He expressed gratitude to The One Club and The One Show for supporting the judging process over the past five years and thanked agencies and clients for their consistent participation.
With new categories, sharper criteria and a broader lens on creativity, Creative Abby 2026 signals that in advertising, evolution is not optional. It is the brief.
