Ad Campaigns
IAA-ad:tech unite for ‘Honours Awards’ to celebrate tech in marketing
MUMBAI: In a world obsessed with instant gratification, where a fleeting moment can spark a billion impressions, the advertising and marketing industry stands as the unsung hero.
Here, creativity marries cutting-edge technology, and platforms morph into virtual canvases for brand storytelling. In this exhilarating age of innovation, the Indian chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) and ad:tech are set to unveil an initiative that promises to rewrite the rules of recognition.
The inaugural Honours Awards will shine a spotlight on the trailblazers—those who dare to challenge the norm, harness technology, and craft campaigns that inspire and innovate. It’s not just an awards show; it’s a celebration of the visionaries redefining the way we see the world through the lens of advertising.
This groundbreaking partnership between IAA and ad:tech marks a historic moment for the industry, one that honours not just the work but the relentless pursuit of excellence that shapes it.
As the anticipation builds, so does the promise of a night to remember—where every accolade is a testament to the artistry and ingenuity of modern advertising.
Scheduled to take place during ad:tech 2025 on 6 March at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi, the awards aim to celebrate the innovators driving digital transformation.
What sets this partnership apart?
It seamlessly merges IAA’s industry excellence with ad:tech’s focus on the future of technology and marketing solutions.
But why do we need awards for tech in advertising? As The Salt Inc Consulting CEO & founder and IAA Mancom member, Neena Dasgupta puts it, “Through the Honour Awards in partnership with ad:tech, IAA wants to push the boundaries across digital which continues to evolve as a medium. The jury for the awards will consist of 15 digital evangelists who are looking forward to judging some path-breaking work.”
The Honours Awards will highlight achievements across several forward-thinking categories, including:
● Marketing Automation/Marketing Cloud
● Data, Analytics & Intelligence
● Content and Social Media
● Conversational Marketing
● Retail Media/eCommerce
● Influencer Marketing
● Customer Experience
● AI Interventions in Marketing
● Performance Marketing
Have you worked on a groundbreaking campaign in one of these areas? If so, the nomination deadline is 4 February 2025. Submit your entry here.
Why now?
Comexposium India MD, Jaswant Singh emphasised the timeliness of this initiative: “For over 14 years, ad:tech India has been a leading platform showcasing the transformative power of technology in advertising and marketing. Partnering with the IAA India Chapter for this inaugural edition, we look forward to celebrating the innovators driving the future of marketing forward.”
The communication landscape is rapidly changing, with technologies like generative AI leading the charge. “Technology is a game-changer for the communications space,” said IAA – India Chapter president Abhishek Karnani. He added that these awards would honour “the best work in the space” and encourage more innovation.
The awards will be judged by an esteemed panel of industry leaders and experts from various sectors, ensuring that only the most innovative and impactful solutions are recognised.
Are you curious to see what campaigns stand out? Imagine the conversations and trends this recognition could spark in the coming years.
Mark your calendar.
ad:tech 2025 will run on 5-6 March at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi, with the awards ceremony on the final day. For more details about the event, click here.
The Honours Awards promise to bridge the gap between technological innovation and its recognition in advertising and marketing. Whether you’re an industry veteran or a digital evangelist, this event offers a front-row seat to the future of marketing.
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
