AD Agencies
Maitri Advertising Works wins agency of the year award
Mumbai: Maitri Advertising Works announced that it has won the South Indian Marketing Award for Agency of the Year. The agency has bagged four gold and one silver.
The first gold medal was for Mathrubhumi Daily’s 100th-anniversary anthology ad series under the category ‘Series Branded Media Content.’ The next gold was for Asianet Bigg Boss Malayalam season 4 promo featuring Mohanlal under the category of ‘Best Use of Television.’
The department of women and child welfare won its third gold with the “No More Compromise” campaign. The recognition was given for the skillful use of social media and digital platforms, which included two music videos starring Arya Dayal, Sayanora, and Indulekha Warrier; digital videos produced by director Basil Joseph; and posters & videos made with the assistance of other social media influencers.
The fourth gold was for the promotion of Netflix’s Christmas release, Minnal Murali. The print campaign, designated as a superhero comics series, was considered for the award. The silver medal is for the hoarding done by joining forces with the Kerala motor vehicle department, asking people to stop speeding.
“You don’t need to live in big cities to do global-scale advertising and campaigns. The success of Maitri is evidence that Kerala has an abundance of resources for it. Our ability to capture the trust of international companies is an example of it,” said Maitri COO Jayakumar.
Maitri director of ideation Venugopal Ramachandran Nair commented, “The space and trust our advertisers provide us are what motivate us to think differently. Our energy comes from their courage to embrace innovation. A name worth mentioning here is Mathrubhumi MD M.V. Shreyams Kumar. His support, when we pitched the concept of ‘anthology advertising’ as part of the centennial celebration of Mathrubhumi, is one example. Maitri has been associated with Mathrubhumi for more than twenty years.”
“The biggest asset of our creative team is the youth who think differently. Behind Maitri’s successful campaigns are a group of hard-working young people. They are the real strength of the seniors leading Maitri,” added Maitri group creative director Francis Thomas.
Maitri director of operations & Kerala Advertising Agencies Association state president Raju Menon said, “In earlier times, network agencies used to come to Kerala and bag brands. Today, the situation has changed. Now, international clients are coming forward, realising the power of regional agencies. This has opened the door for the creative geniuses of Kerala to prepare world-class campaigns.”
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.
