Top marketing minds honoured at Laqshya Pitch Best CMO Awards 2026

The Laqshya Pitch Best CMO Awards 2026 brought together some of the most influential names from the marketing, media and advertising ecosystem to celebrate excellence in brand leadership and marketing innovation. The prestigious awards, held on March 12 in Mumbai, honoured marketing leaders who have demonstrated exceptional strategic vision, creativity and impact through their campaigns and brand initiatives.

Ashish Shelar, Minister of Cultural Affairs and IT, Government of Maharashtra, was the Chief Guest for the Laqshya Pitch Best CMO Awards 2026. The evening recognised the game-changers of the marketing industry, the individuals who have pushed boundaries, embraced new-age marketing approaches and made an impact. Through their innovative thinking and bold strategies, these marketing masters have played a crucial role in shaping brand narratives and driving consumer engagement in an increasingly dynamic marketplace.

In the ‘The CMO Brand Purpose & Impact Award’ category, the winners were Ashwin Moorthy, Global Head of Category Direction & Head of Marketing - India, Godrej Consumer Products; Mahesh Koppad, Chief Marketing Officer - India, Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT) and Shwetal Basu, Senior Vice President and Head of Brand and Marketing, Polycab India. Meanwhile, the winner in ‘The CMO Experiential & Immersive Marketing Award’ category was Rajeeb Dash, Head of Department- Sales & Marketing, Adani Realty.

In the ‘The CMO Digital Marketing Award’ category, the winners were Abhineet Kothari, Marketing Head, India & SE Asia, Apollo Tyres; Ahmed Rahimtoola, Chief Marketing Officer, Tilaknagar Industries; Manoj Jain, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Reliance Retail (B2C Electronics) and Shweta Dalal, Marketing Director, Nivea India.

The winners in the ‘The CMO Data-Driven Marketing Award’ category were Girish Hingorani, Vice President, Marketing (Unitary Cooling Products Group) & Corporate Communications, Blue Star Limited; Pragya Bijalwan, Chief Marketing Officer, Voltas and Pritika Shah, Marketing Head, HDFC Life.

In the ‘The CMO Customer Experience Award’ category, the winners were Jennifer Pandya, Head of Marketing, Škoda India and Shantiswarup Panda, Head of Marketing & Visual Merchandizing, Novel Jewels (Aditya Birla Group).

In the ‘Tech Forward CMO Award’ category, the winners were Amit Doshi, Group CMO, PhonePe; Bishwajeet Samal, Head of Marketing & PR, Volkswagen India and Kedar Ravangave, Executive Vice President – Marketing, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The winners of the ‘The CMO Innovation Award’ category were Pooja Asar, Head of Marketing, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited; Prithvi Handa, Category Marketing Head - Teacher's & Malt Scotch Whisky Portfolio, Beam Suntory and Satish K Sahoo, Senior Director, Marketing, Cipla Health.

In ‘The CMO Growth Award’ category, the winners were Abhishek Kumar, Vice President Marketing, Piramal Consumer Healthcare; Jaswinder Singh Sodhi, Chief Marketing Officer, HSBC - Wealth & Personal Banking India; Prashant Sarwade, Director - Marketing, Cargill Food Solutions South Asia and Sumeet Chunkhare, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Sobha Limited.

In ‘The CMO Transformation Award’ category, the winner was Swati Rathi, Head – Marketing, Godrej Enterprises Group – Appliances Business while Sunil Suresh, Group CMO, Air India bagged the honour in ‘The CMO Leadership Award’ category

The Laqshya Pitch Best CMO Awards 2026 continues to recognise and honour the marketers who are redefining the future of brand building and communication in India’s vibrant marketing ecosystem. The awards ceremony was attended by distinguished leaders, industry stalwarts and experts from across the advertising, marketing and media fraternity. The spectacular awards night served as a platform for industry peers to celebrate achievements by recognising and honouring outstanding work and visionary leadership.