Mindshare Ends Wavemaker's Two-Year Run as EMVIES 2026 Agency of the Year; HUL Top Client

Mindshare was named Media Agency of the Year at EMVIES 2026, ending Wavemaker India's two-year hold on the title, while Hindustan Unilever (HUL) was named Media Client of the Year, Storyboard18 and BestMediaInfo reported. The Advertising Club presented the awards at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on 23 October 2026.

WPP Media, the group that owns both Mindshare and Wavemaker, was named Media Agency Network of the Year. The Grand EMVIE, the top award for a single piece of work, went to Wavemaker India and Colgate-Palmolive for the Colgate Oral Health Movement, in the Best Digital Strategy category.

How the points fell

According to BestMediaInfo's tally of the official rankings:

• Mindshare: 675 points, from 15 Gold, 27 Silver and 36 Bronze.
• Wavemaker India: 630 points, from 20 Gold, 22 Silver, 18 Bronze and the Grand EMVIE.
• HUL: 370 points among clients, ahead of Colgate-Palmolive on 215.
• WPP Media: 1,660 points among networks, ahead of Publicis Media on 165.

Wavemaker won more Golds, but Mindshare's larger haul of Silver and Bronze decided the title. Points are awarded at 20 for a Grand EMVIE, 15 for a Gold, 10 for a Silver and 5 for a Bronze, BestMediaInfo said. Across the show, juries gave out 57 Gold, 74 Silver and 91 Bronze awards, both outlets reported. Wavemaker had won the agency title in 2024 and 2025; PressRoom covered last year's edition.

The work that won

Storyboard18 listed some of the Gold winners:

• Mindshare for Britannia Treat Croissant and for HUL's Vim, a campaign built for a market with little media access.
• Wavemaker India for Cadbury 5Star, Colgate Total, Birla Opus and Tata Tea Agni.
• Wavemaker India for Center Fruit's rural telephone campaign using AI, in the Best Use of AI category.
• OpenDoor for Amazon India's programmatic live-sports work on the Women's Premier League, in Connected TV.

Advertising Club president Dheeraj Sinha said the awards recognise ideas that push the boundaries of media, according to Storyboard18. EMVIES committee chair Punitha Arumugam said the work combined "strong insights with innovation and effectiveness."

Why it matters now

The result lands in a busy review season. This week Coca-Cola kept WPP Open X for India, and Colgate-Palmolive India, the Grand EMVIE client, named a new marketing head. Award tallies are a staple of agency credentials in such pitches.