Pepper Creative Awards: 19th edition honours the best in South Indian advertising

The 19^th  edition of Pepper Creative Awards, the most reputed and sought after creative awards in South India, was held at a glittering function at Le Meridien Kochi on 5^th December. Sonal Dabral, Founder Tribha and former Vice Chairman Ogilvy India , was the Chief Guest . Rajiv Rao, Director Nirvana Films and former National Creative Director Ogilvy India  and Prathap Suthan, Co-founder and CCO Bang In The Middle were other guests of honor.

Chennai-based  Be Positive 24 Innovation Design swept the top honours, winning both the Agency of the Year title and the newly instituted Grand Prix, the highest recognition of the evening.; Club FM ( Mathrubhumi  Group) won the ‘Advertiser of the year’ award.  Thiruvananthapuram-based Stark Communications bagged the award for the Best of Kerala , Bangalore-based  Freeflow Ideas  won the Best of Karnataka award and Hyderabad based Prawal Media ( Bigbears Advertising) bagged the Best of Telangana award.  Prominent agencies  across South India such as  Happy Unicorn, Tempest Advertising, MIOT International Hospitals, Rush Republic,  Plainspeak,     MM TV, Red FM, Popkon Creatives etc were among the other awardees. Other major agencies participated were Tempest Advertising, Mass Designs, KAL Radio, Mindmine Brand Communications, Human Stories, Fuse Art & Production, Mathrubhumi, Vertical Story, Makesense Advertising, Navarasa films etc.

“Before the main award function, we had a panel discussion with Sonal Dabral, Rajiv Rao and Prathap Suthan , which was moderated by Anupama Sajeet, Features Editor, MANIFEST MEDIA , Mumbai. The session, featuring an exceptional lineup of advertising luminaries, evolved into a moving tribute to the legacy of Piyush Pandey. The panelists delved into his genius for storytelling and his unique ability to infuse a quintessentially Indian soul into iconic advertisements.”, said P.K. Natesh, Chairman, Pepper Awards 2025.

“This year we received more than 650 entries from ad agencies, media, production houses  and photographers across South India.  The winners were selected after a two round online judging by a panel of 14 jurors . From 350 shortlists, 140 trophies were awarded ” said K. Venugopal, Chairman, Pepper Trust. 

“More than 300 participants from across South India attended the function which took more than 4 hours to get over with lots of entertainment and an interactive quiz session by Manorama Max with attractive gift hampers for the winners  , said Natesh.