Goafest 2025: Wavemaker named Media Agency of the Year at 2025 ABBY Awards

At the 2025 ABBY Awards, presented in association with The One Show, Wavemaker, a GroupM agency, emerged as the standout performer, securing the title of “Media Agency of the Year” with a commanding 124 points. Sibling agencies Mindshare and EssenceMediacom followed in second and third place with 76 and 36 points, respectively.

Wavemaker’s haul included 19 awards—comprising one Grand Prix, six Gold, eight Silver, and four Bronze trophies. Among its notable wins was the Grand Prix in the Innovative Use of Audio Visual category for Dream11’s “India’s New Local Language,” a campaign celebrating regional linguistic identity in sports advertising.

The agency also claimed multiple Gold awards across various categories:

- Innovative Use of Social Media for Cadbury 5 Star’s irreverent “Destroy Valentine’s Day” campaign

- Innovative Use of Mobile for Cadbury Celebrations’ nostalgic “Creating Memories Never Clicked”

- Sports Marketing for Cadbury Dairy Milk’s emotionally resonant “#ThankYouFirstCoach” initiative

- Innovative Use of Integrated Media for a multichannel campaign for Colgate-Palmolive India

- Cause Marketing for India Gate Basmati Rice’s socially driven “Grains of Hope”

- Innovative Use of Emerging Technology for Colgate-Palmolive India’s “AI Meets Accessibility,” which leveraged artificial intelligence to address inclusivity

Mindshare India, another GroupM agency, amassed a total of 13 awards, including four Gold and Silver medals and five Bronze wins. EssenceMediacom secured six awards, with two wins in each medal category.

This year’s ABBY Awards saw a robust turnout, with 4,076 entries submitted across disciplines. Of these, 1,398 entries came from media agencies, while 2,678 originated from creative agencies, reflecting a continued convergence of media strategy and creative execution in the advertising ecosystem.

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