Eligibility and rules
Who the edition is
South is defined here in operational terms, so that an agency can settle its own eligibility before writing a word. Where a case is genuinely finely balanced, screening asks rather than assumes.
The definition
Where the work has to come from.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Puducherry.
Eligibility period1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026
01Geography
Geography.
( 01 — 06 )- Eligible geographies are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Puducherry.
- For an Agency Award, the agency must be headquartered in an eligible geography, or must enter through a substantive operating office in the South that is the subject of the entry.
- For a Work Award, the lead agency team responsible for the submitted work must be based in an eligible South office, even where the client is elsewhere and the campaign ran nationally.
- A national or global network enters through a South office. The entry must identify the specific office and the team responsible.
- The client need not be headquartered in South India. Production and partner credits may be located anywhere.
02Period
Period.
( 02 — 06 )- Work must have first launched, or been materially active, between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026.
- Agency performance evidence should cover the same twelve months.
- Entries close 15 November 2026. Screening runs on a rolling basis from the first submission.
03Ownership and rights
Ownership and rights.
( 03 — 06 )- The entering agency must have the authority to submit the work and to share the material it contains.
- Credits must be structured and accurate. Partners and collaborators should be credited whether or not they are in the South.
- Where client permission is required to show material, it must be held before entry, not sought afterwards.
- Confidential material should be placed in the jury-only sections. Anything in the public summary may be published if the entry wins.
04Evidence
Evidence.
( 04 — 06 )- Results should be labelled as sourced, measured or claimed. The distinction matters more to a jury than the size of the number.
- Admin or the jury may flag an unsupported claim for clarification. Missing proof alone does not reject an entry; it does weaken it.
- Where effectiveness is central to the category, supporting evidence is strongly encouraged.
05Changing, withdrawing, disqualification
Changing, withdrawing, disqualification.
( 05 — 06 )- An entry is locked at final submission. It can only be edited afterwards if an administrator reopens specific fields following a clarification request.
- An entrant may withdraw an entry. The refund position is separate and set out in the fees.
- A serious rule breach discovered after submission can lead to disqualification, with the reason and the deciding authority recorded.
- If plagiarism, fabricated results or a rights problem emerges after judging, Ad Tribe may suspend or withdraw the result following a documented review.
06Appeals
Appeals.
( 06 — 06 )- An entrant may query an administrative eligibility decision or a factual error.
- There is no appeal against jury judgement. Disagreeing with a score is not grounds for review.
- Jury comments are confidential and are not shared verbatim with entrants.
Two different decisions
Ineligible is not the same as not award-worthy.
An administrative decision that an entry does not qualify is a rules decision, made by the screening team before the jury sees anything. A jury decision that an entry is not award-worthy is a judgement about the work itself. The two are recorded, reported and communicated separately, and neither is ever presented as the other.