PATTAYA, THAILAND – Every year, ADFEST hosts a Young Lotus workshop and competition crafted for young creative professionals across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region. This year, dentsu is hosting the Young Lotus Workshop led by APAC & Taiwan Dentsu Creative Council Chair Alice Chou and Dentsu Creative & dentsuMB Taiwan CCO APAC Practices and Creative APAC President Hitoshi Hamaguchi.
Under the theme “The Collision of Creativity, Creativity++,” creatives from 17 cities, including Bangkok, Colombo, Dhaka, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, and Ulaanbaatar were driven to embrace chaos and celebrate diverse perspectives. Beyond the immersive workshops and cross-cultural networking, participants faced the ultimate test: a high-intensity, 24-hour creative competition.
Flying the flag for the Philippines were Ernest John Snyder, Senior Copywriter at Hakuhodo/BCI and Kimberly Shane Fuller, Art Director at Hakuhodo/BCI. Their journey to Young Lotus began with a gold win at the 2024 Digital Young Creators Competition by the Digital Marketing Association of the Philippines (DMAP) — and now, they’re taking on ADFEST’s biggest creative stage.
adobo Magazine sat down with Ernest and Kim to dive into their Young Lotus experience — inside the workshops, behind the competition, and beyond.
Team Manila’s ‘TravelAble’
According to Ernest, the brief “Empowering People with Disabilities” was set by Mastercard, challenging creatives to harness the power of “Creativity++” to make travel across APAC more inclusive.
Kim shared that as soon as they heard the brief, ideas sparked instantly — from rethinking accessibility to amplifying disability visibility in ways never seen before.
Eventually, Team Manila came up with TravelAble. The campaign wants to redefine travel by shifting the focus from mainstream tourist hotspots to inclusive, lesser-explored destinations that prioritize accessibility. Recognizing the challenges that differently-abled travelers face, they proposed a Mastercard campaign that collaborates with partner merchants to create a more welcoming travel experience. A companion app and website will connect users to certified businesses equipped to accommodate various disabilities —empowering more people to explore the world with confidence.
Despite the strength of Ernest and Kim’s idea, it didn’t make this year’s shortlist. Team Dubai, Team Tokyo, Team Ho Chi Minh, Team Jakarta, and Team Hong Kong emerged as finalists, with Team Jakarta winning the popular vote and Team Ho Chi Minh taking home the top prize.
Kim and Ernest felt the sting of disappointment when they didn’t make the shortlist, both hoping to bring home a win. But Ernest emphasized the honor of representing the Philippines is a victory in itself. Despite the outcome, they’re embracing the experience — soaking in Pattaya and everything ADFEST had to offer.
“You’re in Thailand for this event. Did you really lose?” Ernest quipped.
Shared creative language
Talking about their co-participants’ and the finalists’ work, Ernest and Kim revealed that they actually thought of some of it at one point, but they felt more drawn by their final idea. Kim even expressed that there were some works that surprised her as she couldn’t have thought of that overnight.
“It’s really interesting how a great POV can push a great idea forward,” Ernest reflected, praising Team Tokyo’s standout campaign on sound tourism — an innovative concept designed to enhance travel for visually impaired individuals.
“It was really inspiring to see how these people thought about the brief, thought around it, and it’s quite an honor to be defeated by the best of the best,” he added.
Kim also mentioned that the workshops and competition were eye-opening, offering them a chance to see how creatives from all over Asia approach their brief and do the work. Despite cultural differences, Kim noted that there were common ideas, highlighting a shared creative language across the region.
Kim and Ernest’s pasalubongs
For Kim and Ernest, the experience was both inspiring and rewarding. They were proud of their concept and gave it their all — yet they believe there’s even more potential to push forward, proving that great ideas are never finished, only evolving.
“It’s a lot of discovery, it’s a lot of getting inspiration, and it’s fun, it’s scary, and, yeah, it’s been a great experience so far,” Ernest said about his experience going to Thailand and ADFEST for the first time.
For Kim, the Young Lotus experience was a powerful reminder of why she pursued a creative career in the first place.
“Sometimes the work feels like laundry,” she admitted. “But being here, seeing all the shortlisted and submitted works — wow. We really do make a difference. It feels like magic. Like we do have purpose.”
The experience reignited her passion for creating ads that don’t just sell but spark real impact. “It brought me back to why I wanted to be here — to create good ads that actually make a difference. And not just externally, but within me. It feels good to make that difference.”
At Kim’s core, she’s even confident that AI wouldn’t replace human work, as she believes deep down that it’s human creativity that makes the magic.
Ernest remains optimistic and fueled with inspiration from the experience. Reflecting on the journey, he affirmed, “I didn’t lose anything that I learned from here, because the perspective is worth the journey.”
