Tribes sweeps ABBY Awards 2026 with media grand prix, 48 wins and a doubled tally

GOA: Tribes has had a Goafest to remember. The integrated marketing communications network claimed the media grand prix at the ABBY Awards 2026, was named PR specialist agency of the year, and walked away with 48 awards in total, comprising 35 metals and 13 merits. That is more than double its haul from last year, and the strongest performance the agency has put together at the festival.

The wins span media, experiential, innovation and integrated marketing, a spread that Tribes will be keen to point to as evidence that its ambitions extend well beyond any single discipline. For an independent agency operating in a landscape still largely dominated by network holding companies, the breadth of the recognition matters as much as the volume.

Gour Gupta, chairman of Tribes, framed the result as a statement of direction rather than a moment of celebration. Doubling last year’s tally, he said, reflects consistency and evolution, and validates the agency’s belief that creativity must translate into ideas people not only see but experience and remember. The diversity of work recognised across categories, clients and teams, in his telling, is the more telling signal.

Beyond the individual metals, Gupta pointed to the grand prix and the specialist agency recognition as markers of a larger strategic shift, blending creativity, innovation, culture and measurable outcomes to build brand experiences that hold up to scrutiny.

Tribes describes itself as a US$ 100 million-plus integrated marketing communications agency, with capabilities spanning out-of-home, experiential, events, digital, rural and retail, sports marketing and celebrity management. It operates across 17 offices in India and claims a client base of more than 450 active brands.

Forty-eight awards, one grand prix, and a clean sweep of the specialist agency title. For India’s independent agencies, Tribes has just raised the bar considerably.