AD Agencies
Crayons wins 2 golds, 1 silver, and 3 bronzes as India’s largest independent agency at ABBYs
Mumbai: In a triumph for independent spirit and creativity, Crayons Advertising won across categories and campaigns. The independent agency competed against big international names from the industry, relying not on the strength of numbers but on passion and dedication.
The Delhi-headquartered agency’s team took home 2 golds and a silver for a campaign advertising themselves called Creatively Independent Since 1986, 2 bronzes for Woodpecker Beer’s Legally Mandated Glassware campaign and 1 bronze for Clove Dental’s Teeth Have Feelings Too.
Crayon’s chief strategy officer Samir Datar reflected on the wins, saying: “Last year, we took home one bronze ABBY. This year, we proved it wasn’t a fluke, but the start of something bigger. To win for our very own Crayons campaign is especially sweet. We truly believe in what we do, and to win as an independent agency in a field full of massive names felt special. It was an emotional time for each and every team member present, which says a lot about the passion and pride we take in our work. Watch out for us next year!”
Crayons executive creative director Manoj Jacob added, “Crayons, yeah we’re different. We don’t have 100 people ideating with the specific intention of picking up metal, just a handful of damn good people doing damn good work. And these awards are testament to what a small team like ours, can do with just good old day-to-day advertising.”
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
