The Pepper Awards, South India’s premier advertising honours, will open entries for its 2025 edition on 26 September. 

Ahead of its 19th edition, the awards has announced a strategic partnership with Manifest.

Born as a state-level initiative in 2007, the Pepper Awards has steadily grown into a platform that recognises and celebrates creativity across South India. Through this new partnership with Manifest, the organisers aim to expand the awards’ footprint across the country.

With credibility as its cornerstone, the Pepper Awards jury comprises a curated panel of globally renowned luminaries from the advertising world, many of whom have judged at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, D&AD, LIA, and One Show, among other esteemed events

The jury panel for the 2025 edition will be announced soon. 

K Venugopal, chairperson, Pepper Creative Awards Trust, said, “This partnership with Manifest amplifies our mission to bring South Indian creativity to a national forefront. This year, we’ve expanded our categories to mirror leading national awards, creating more opportunities for diverse and brilliant work to be recognised.”

P K Natesh, chairperson, Pepper Awards 2025, added, “Alongside our coveted ‘Agency of the Year’ and ‘Advertiser of the Year’ awards, we are proud to introduce a special jury award for outstanding creative work. The alliance with Manifest Media, known for its daily industry updates and magazine reaching the CXOs of the marketing and advertising world, promises unprecedented visibility for the awards and its winners, making it a mutually beneficial partnership for both organisations.”

Raahil Chopra, founder and editor, Manifest, stated, “We are extremely excited to partner with Pepper Awards. We attended last year’s event as the ‘offline partner’ and were impressed with the turnout and scale. Given the incredible response last year, we are looking to elevate the experience for attendees even further this year.”

Key details

Entry period: All work must have been published or displayed for the first time between 1 April 2024 and 31st March 2025.

Deadline: Entries must be submitted online at www.pepperawards.com on or before 5 PM, 31 October 2025.

Award ceremony: The gala ceremony will be held on 5 December at Le Meridien Kochi.

Early bird discount: Registrations completed on or before 10 October 2025, qualify for a special reduced entry fee.

For more information, visit pepperawards.com.