PATTAYA, THAILAND — After three days, ADFEST 2024 culminated with the announcement of the Lotus Special Awards at PEACH, Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand.
ADFEST 2024 Special Awards
NETWORK OF THE YEAR
ADFEST 2024 proudly announces Dentsu as the 2024 Network of the Year. The group of nine offices that entered the ADFEST Lotus Awards included Dentsu Inc., Tokyo, Dentsu Creative, Melbourne, Dentsu Creative Vietnam / Dentsu Redder, Ho Chi Minh City, Dentsu Creative Indonesia, Jakarta, Dentsu Creative, Sydney, Dentsu Creative Thailand, Bangkok, Dentsu East Japan Inc., Tokyo, Dentsu Creative Taiwan, Taipei and Dentsu Digital Inc., Tokyo.
The rest of the Network of the Year runner-ups are as follows:
- 2nd – Hakuhodo
- 3rd – VML
- 4th – Leo Burnett
- 5th – BBDO
AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Dentsu Inc. Tokyo was awarded Agency of the Year 2024, followed by:
- 2nd – Six Inc., Tokyo
- 3rd – Impact BBDO, Dubai
- 4th – Cheil Worldwide, Seoul
- 5th – Good Design Company
INDEPENDENT AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Independent Agency of the Year went to Choojai and Friends, Bangkok. Followed by:
- 2nd – Howatson + Company, Sydney
- 3rd – GIGIL, Manila
- 4th – Topic & Loong, Beijing
- 5th – Honda Office Inc., Tokyo
- 5th – I&CO Tokyo, Tokyo
- 5th – Pyramid Film Quadra Inc., Tokyo
DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Dentsu Inc., Tokyo wins this edition’s Digital Agency of the Year. The agency was followed by:
- 2nd – DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai
- 3rd – Howatson + Company, Sydney
- 3rd – Six Inc., Tokyo
- 3rd – VML, Singapore
- 3rd – Wolf BKK, Bangkok
MEDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR
An Nahar Newspaper, Beirut was awarded Media Agency of the Year. Following by, the second to fifth positions were awarded to:
- 2nd – Cheil Worldwide, Seoul
- 2nd – CRE8 Marketing, Vientiane
- 2nd – VML Ogilvy Japan, Tokyo
- 5th – IDEOT, Seoul
- 5th – SOUR Bangkok, Bangkok
- 5th – Wavemaker, Jakarta
PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR
PR Agency of the Year was Material Inc., Tokyo. Other PR agencies to watch out for are the following:
- 2nd – KMCGroup, Tokyo
- 2nd – MullenLowe Treyna, Manila
- 4th – For the Right Reasons, Amsterdam
- 4th – Ogilvy Singapore, Singapore
PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Piano Inc., Tokyo has won Production Company of the Year this 2024. The other high-ranking production companies are as follows:
- 2nd – Spoon., Tokyo
- 3rd – Slanted, Tokyo
- 4th – FINCH, Sydney
- 5th – Dentsu Creative Cube Inc., Tokyo
ADVERTISER OF THE YEAR
Advertiser of the Year was won by JR Group. The rest of the notable advertisers this year were:
- 2nd – McDonald’s
- 3rd – Sotetsu Holdings
- 4th – Koushi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd
- 5th – With ALS
REGIONAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
This year, Regional Agency of the Year was added to the ADFEST Special Awards lineup. The Agency with the highest score (at least 30 points to be eligible for Regional Agency of the Year) will receive the award.
Dentsu Inc., Tokyo was awarded East Asia Agency of the Year. Trailing by the second through fifth position was awarded to:
- 2nd – Six Inc., Tokyo
- 3rd – Cheil Worldwide, Seoul
- 4th – Good Design Company, Tokyo
- 5th – Leo Burnett Taiwan, Taipei
Additionally, Middle East Agency of the Year went to Impact BBDO, Dubai; Oceania Agency of the Year was awarded to Howatson + Company, Sydney; South Asia Agency of the Year was granted to Leo Burnett India, Mumbai (the second position was DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai).
Meanwhile, Choojai and Friends, Bangkok was awarded Southeast Asia Agency of the Year, while the rest of the rankings are as follows:
- 2nd – Wolf BKK, Bangkok
- 3rd – VML, Singapore
- 3rd – VML Indonesia, Jakarta
- 4th – Ogilvy Group Thailand, Bangkok
- 5th – GIGIL, Manila
LOTUS GRANDE FOR HUMANITY
The Lotus Grande for Humanity recognizes creative excellence in the Public Services & Cause Appeals categories. Gold Lotus winners in Brand Experience, Commerce, Design Digital & Social, Direct, Effective, Entertainment, Film, Media, Mobile, Outdoor, PR, Press, Radio & Audio (Except Audio Craft Lotus sub-categories), Sustainable, INNOVA and Lotus Roots are eligible to win the Lotus Grande for Humanity.
This year’s winner is Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for With ALS “Project Humanity.”
Malcolm Poynton, Global Chief Creative Officer for Cheil Worldwide, London was Grand Jury President for Lotus Grande for Humanity. He explained why the work was selected: “Project Humanity is an Asia-tech solution for the world, designed to solve the impossible; enable those disabled by ALS.”
“While the case film focuses on the story of ALS sufferer and DJ, Massa, the power of Project Humanity is seen in testing with ALS kids being able to competitively game with the dexterity of fully-abled kids, to control robotics and Virtual Avatars. All were achieved through three significant leaps: the discovery of immobile limbs carrying small electric signals when the brain envisions movement, the leap that enabled small Bluetooth sensors to capture and feedback this electricity signally to a computer before, in the third leap, converting those signals into commands for pretty much any interface around.”
“It’s a triumph of human intelligence x sophisticated tech combining to advance humanity,” he concluded.
LOTUS LEGEND: PIYUSH PANDEY
Introduced in 2012, the Lotus Legend recognizes a creative leader who has impacted, contributed to, and left a lasting legacy by raising the bar for creative excellence in the region.
Each year, we ask all the ADFEST juries to nominate and vote for this Hall of Fame award. This year, 63 juries of ADFEST 2024 voted to elect Piyush Pandey, Chief Advisor of Ogilvy India, as the 2024 Lotus Legend.
Piyush has been with Ogilvy since 1982. And has been the Executive Chairman of Ogilvy India since 2004. Prior to his current global creative role, he served as the Global Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy for two and a half years. He was the first Asian to chair the Cannes jury in 2004. He was honored with the Indian National Civilian Award (Padma Shri) in 2016 by the President of India, and again, this made him the first in the Advertising industry to receive this recognition He was awarded the Lion of St Mark at the International Festival of Creativity at Cannes in 2018, the first Indian to win this award. Economic Times, India’s foremost business paper, has named Piyush the most influential person in Indian advertising for 14 consecutive years, another first and undisputed title.
Piyush believes people in advertising can use their creativity to drive social change. He has created several impactful social campaigns, including his many years of work with UNICEF and the Government of India to make India polio-free. India was declared a polio-free country in 2014.
“You don’t wear your country on your sleeve. You wear your country in your heart. To the young people out there, believe in yourself, believe in your country, and believe that the world will salute you one day,” said Piyush.
Over 842 delegates from 57 cities attended ADFEST 2024 Human Intelligence venue from March 21 to March 23 at PEACH, The Royal Cliff Beach Hotels Group, Pattaya, Thailand. The festival featured 31 sessions with 51 speakers, along with six interactive workshops led by 17 speakers. Additionally, delegates had the opportunity to explore exhibitions, screenings, and parties throughout the three-day event.
The event organizers invited 63 jury members to judge the ADFEST 2024 Lotus Awards. They were led by Malcolm Poynton, Global Chief Creative Officer for Cheil Worldwide, London, and viewed 1,587 entries to select the winners, which were announced at two evening awards presentations. Innovation and the remarkable power of Human Intelligence “HI.”
