Kantar has unveiled the winners of its Creative Effectiveness Awards (CEA) India 2026, with campaigns from Cadbury Dairy Milk, KitKat, Taj Mahal Tea, Tata Salt, Dettol and Wheel emerging among the country's most effective advertising.

Based on Kantar's testing of more than 13,000 creatives globally in 2025, including over 1,500 in India, the awards identify campaigns that resonated strongly with consumers and delivered meaningful business impact. More than 250 Indian ads were evaluated across categories, audiences, regions and media platforms.

The theme of this year's report, 'ROOTED in India', reflects Kantar's finding that the most effective advertising combines strong storytelling, cultural relevance and seamless brand integration. According to the analysis, the strongest campaigns capture attention through relatable human truths, drive consideration through clear brand integration and build lasting brand equity through culturally resonant storytelling.

Ten campaigns were recognised across four categories: Hindi-speaking markets, non-Hindi-speaking markets, Digital, and Bharat Connect. The winning work highlighted how brands are drawing on local realities, cultural nuances and everyday tensions to create stronger consumer connections.

Among the winners, Cadbury Dairy Milk's New Neighbour, Dettol Antiseptic Liquid's Shaadi Ka Ghar and KitKat's Break Par Sirf KitKat Break! were recognised in the Hindi-speaking markets category. In non-Hindi speaking markets, winning campaigns included Taj Mahal Tea's Pehle Aap, Tata Salt's Vidaai, Medimix's Nakhrewali to Nikharwali Skin and Dexogrow's Vidhayak. Hindustan Unilever's Wheel campaign Reel won in the Bharat Connect category, while Diageo's McDowell's campaign First with Friends was recognised in the Digital category.

Kantar said the winning campaigns demonstrate that effectiveness is built through depth of insight, emotion, cultural relevance and execution. While each campaign approached storytelling differently, the strongest work combined creativity, persuasion and brand integration to create deeper emotional connections and stronger business outcomes.

Kantar Creative Effectiveness Awards India 2026 Winners:

Separately, Kantar released new global insights into creator effectiveness, finding that creator content impact has increased by 77%, while 43% of campaign impact now comes from channel synergy, up from 18% a decade ago.

The research also found that only 27% of creator content effectively links back to the brand, despite strong brand integration nearly doubling its impact. Campaigns that combine creator content with branded content can contribute up to 43% to sales, outperforming either approach when used independently.

Soumya Mohanty, managing director and chief solutions officer, South Asia, Kantar, said, "Across categories, brands and audiences, this year's winners shared one thing in common: they were built on a deep understanding of Indian consumers. Whether through community, culture, aspiration, identity or everyday life, the most effective campaigns transformed authentic human insights into compelling brand stories. Their success demonstrates that creativity is most powerful when it feels relevant, meaningful and deeply connected to people's lives."

Prasanna Kumar, EVP and head of creative, Kantar, added, "The way marketing effectiveness is built is fundamentally changing. As media becomes increasingly fragmented, success will depend less on creating more content and more on creating connected creative ecosystems, where ideas, channels and executions work seamlessly together. In this environment, clear and consistent brand expression across every touchpoint becomes the foundation for driving meaningful impact and growth."