Puneet Vidyarthi, President, RMAI, said:
“The Flame Awards celebrate ideas that create meaningful impact across Bharat. This year’s winners have demonstrated how deep consumer understanding, innovation and executional excellence continue to redefine the future of rural marketing. We congratulate all the winners for setting new benchmarks for the industry.”
Impact Communications emerged as the highest-ranked Indian agency, topping the overall standings with an impressive 17 Gold Awards. The agency was also honoured as Specialist Activation / BTL Agency of the Year, recognising its sustained excellence in experiential marketing, rural engagement and last-mile brand activation.
Based on the overall Gold medal tally, Corteva Agriscience secured the second position among Indian participants with 8 Gold Awards, followed by Insight India Network with 7 Gold Awards.
Sanjay Kaul, Founder & Chairman, Impact Communications, said:
“This recognition is a tribute to the passion and commitment of our team over the past 27 years. We have always believed that meaningful brand growth begins with a deep understanding of Bharat. These honours inspire us to continue pushing the boundaries of rural and experiential marketing through innovation and AI-enabled capabilities.”
UltraTech Cement was honoured as Client of the Year, recognising its outstanding commitment to rural marketing and consumer engagement through impactful activation programmes that delivered measurable business outcomes across Bharat.
Among international participants, Outreach Nepal topped the leaderboard with 7 Gold Awards, while Bangladesh’s bKash Limited and DigitalIn Pvt. Ltd. jointly secured the
second position with 5 Gold Awards each, underlining the growing depth and quality of rural marketing excellence across South Asia.
Other prominent Gold winners included Habson Communication Ltd. (6 Gold), Living Brands (6 Gold), Hygienic Research Institute Pvt. Ltd. (4 Gold), Posterscope India (3 Gold), Coromandel International Ltd., Bharat Certis Agriscience Ltd., TVS Credit Services Ltd. and Hoopla Interactive Services (2 Gold each). Gold honours were also awarded to Mindwave Media Pvt. Ltd., COMCRAFT Advertising & Marketing Pvt. Ltd., SeedWorks International Pvt. Ltd., LEMON Private Limited, Jagran Solutions, Pidilite Industries Ltd., Exide Industries Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra, Shriram Finance, Storm Communications Nepal Pvt. Ltd., CASE Construction India Pvt. Ltd. and VML India, reflecting the diversity of organisations driving innovation across rural marketing.
The complete list of winners is available at www.flameawards.com. DigitaldotRural 2026 Sets the Context
Earlier in the day, RMAI hosted DigitaldotRural 2026, themed “AI for Bharat:
Prioritizing Rural Growth.” The conference brought together leaders from NICSI, the Ministry of Rural Development, ONDC, NASSCOM AI, Wadhwani AI, PepsiCo, ITCMAARS, Novac Technology Solutions, Incedo, Almonds AI and other leading organisations to discuss practical applications of artificial intelligence across agriculture, commerce, enterprise and rural development. The discussions reinforced a common vision that Bharat’s next phase of growth will be powered by the convergence of responsible AI, deep local insights and scalable execution—providing a fitting backdrop to celebrate excellence at the Flame Awards Asia 2026.
The conclave was supported by CASE Construction Equipment as Title Sponsor, Coromandel International Ltd., SBI General Insurance and Redington Limited as Platinum Sponsors, and Goosebumps as the Powered By Sponsor.
About RMAI
Established in 2005, the Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI) is India’s premier industry body dedicated to advancing rural marketing through thought leadership, industry collaboration, capability building, and recognition.
Media Contact
Shrija Venugopal
Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI) Email: [email protected]
Phone: +91 9910023628
