PATTAYA, THAILAND — Day 2 at ADFEST features sessions that examine many of the issues that brands and agencies face, and offers future-forward ideas for turning challenges into success. Included in the collection of sessions confirmed so far are the one human asset that AI does not have in its arsenal: ideas for connecting with people who don’t love advertising and insights from the work that wowed the world’s top creatives last year.
Don’t miss these featured speakers on March 22, including:
Topic: Against the Current with Game Advertising
10:05 to 10:40 am
Speaker: Michał Misiński, Film Director & Partner, Juice, Warsaw, and Mayu Yamashita, Head of Production, Juice, Tokyo
Gaming title advertising is not just eye-candy 3D anymore. It’s movie magic for gamers. The proper mixture of top-quality CG achievements and live-action dynamics brings game characters to real life, and there’s also a whole world of cyberware that even includes prosthetic make-up. Imagine, for example, getting inside Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s promo music video and custom-made ending titles for the game’s expansion, sprinkled with insights from Juice Director Michał Misiński. This session is a backstage pass to the ultimate gaming storytelling.
Michał had the opportunity to direct the promo music video for Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty extension, which also serves as the game’s ending title. He has also contributed to the History Channel’s Vikings trailer, Project 2501: Homage to Ghost in the Shell, a non-commercial tribute to Shirow Amassment’s manga and Mamoru Oshii’s film, a BBC campaign promoting the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, which earned him a BAFTA award, and was second unit director and an art director in the Netflix series, The Liberator.
Mayu is head of production at Juice Tokyo, formerly with AOI Pro., Japan’s leading production company. She has led various CGI and creative projects, including commercial work for industry giants such as Nintendo, Shiseido, Audi, Nissan, Uniqlo, and Toyota. Most recently, she coordinated VFX production for Japanese feature film Monster (“Kaibutsu”) which won accolades at the Cannes Film Festival.
Topic: AI Can’t Get Angry. You Can.
10:40 to 11:15 am
Speaker: Pooja Manek, Creative Director and Founding Member, Talented Agency, Bengaluru
If AI threatens human creativity, there has never been a better time to be more human. Anger is the strongest human emotion. It’s a force for good for creativity, a tool that makes us irreplaceable. Studies show that people who feel angry are less likely to think in systematic ways and are more likely to rely on broad, global cues when judging information. In other words, they see the big picture.
Without feeling emotions such as anger, AI will never be able to replace human intelligence (or human stupidity). Just as hand-made became a luxury when machines were invented, human-made is the differentiator that brands will seek more intently, Pooja says. Her session will be packed with actionable insights and case studies that will enable creative folks to act their rage and turn it into a fair advantage.
Pooja founded Talented Agency in India because “the world needed the agency experience to be re-imagined — first for employees, then for clients.” “I am a fan of making brands speak better, present themselves better, and while at that, help them make a social and cultural impact,” she said. Before Talented, Pooja was Creative Director at Dentsu Webchutney, leading global accounts such as Google, YouTube, Tinder, Spotify, and legacy Indian brands such as Flipkart and Swiggy. In 2021, she was the only Indian on the Next Creative Leaders list, awarded by The One Club and 3% movement.
Topic: The Creative Journey: Building an Emotional Infrastructure
11:15 to 11:50 am
Speaker: Yoshihiro Yagi, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu, Tokyo, and Mariko Fukuoka, Copywriter, Dentsu, Tokyo
People rarely act because they want to solve a brand’s problem. Most often, it’s because they are moved by instinct or emotion. Dentsu’s Executive Creative Director, Yoshihiro Yagi, and Copywriter, Mariko Fukuoka, will share the thinking behind their Grand-Prix-winning work and how they created an emotional infrastructure and touched people’s hearts. They will also demonstrate how to bring a human touch to brands in this age of AI.
Yoshihiro is one of the top award-winning creatives in Japan and a driving force for Dentsu’s creativity. His work is always built around human impulses and nurturing long, deep client relationships. Now more than ever, he feels the need for all to follow our human sense of ethics in finding and solving societal problems. His greatest motivation is to create things that will make the lives of each person in this world brighter and enriched through the power of creativity. He also lectures at Kyoto University of the Art.
Mariko is a copywriter at Dentsu with a deep understanding of design. Over the past decade, she has placed great importance on the creative process from the creative direction that captures the essence of brands to craft that is the final contact surface between brands and consumers. One of her most recent examples of this is My Japan Railway, which won the Industry Craft Grand Prix at Cannes Lions last year.
Topic: Brand Experiences & Expectations: The Automagical Era of Scannable Brands
15:05 to 15:40 am
Speaker: Abel Sim, Executive Director, Experience, Landor, Tokyo
Is your brand scannable? One of the most urgent business objectives of a brand ecosystem is to create more occasions for interaction and, as a result, to build true relationships with audiences. As privacy becomes a paramount concern, the challenge of connecting with consumers has never been more complex. Personalized and contextually relevant immersive experiences are key drivers of engagement. Opportunities to do so are harder and harder to find.
Scannable brands are designed to become a digital bridge into a brand-led world without the user giving up PII or downloading anything. An elevated progressive data strategy can elevate consumer expectations of the brand before they are asked for purchase, loyalty, and advocacy.
Abel has led strategy teams in NY, Singapore, and now in Tokyo, partnering with clients to create award-winning work for brands. His work with Netflix, Fanta, Porsche, and many more has given him a front-row seat in influencing how brands can lead business transformation. Before joining L&F, he was with Accenture Song, focusing on brand experience strategy for global clients looking to engage using brand-led and tangible experiences that are humanly relevant at their core.
Topic: Making Advertising For People Who Don’t Like Advertising
16:15 to 16:50 pm
Speaker: Seulki Lee, Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, Seoul
The word advertisement has become “a quasi-tax for those unable to afford monthly subscriptions,” says Seulki Lee, creative director at Cheil Worldwide. Moving away from the assumption that everyone enjoys or is interested in ads could be the first step in creating truly effective advertising. The important problems to solve then become, How can we connect with them? Is reaching out the right move? Could advertising make people dislike a brand more? How do advertisers share the stories they want amid an audience that doesn’t want to listen? What’s the talk strategy for those who don’t want to hear? In her session, Seulki will share the answers she has found.
Seulki, once a math and music enthusiast, approaches ad creation like solving math problems and infusing the vibes from music, giving her work a unique style. She is now in her seventh year as a creative director, with the legacy of being a driving force behind the success of many brands.
Topic: AIderdog: How Indie Agencies are Redefining the Game?
16:50 to 17:25 pm
Speaker: Dissara Udomdej, Chief Executive Officer, Yell Advertising, Bangkok
Competing with giants, independent agencies are using AI to revolutionize their roles in the creative and marketing industries and maximize the power of their agility and innovative spirit. This session unveils how they harness the power of AI for personalized strategies, rapid adaptation, and creative solutions that set them apart in the market, as well as building strong client relationships and thriving in the digital age.
The session includes a special case study featuring Yell Advertising, the fast-growing agency that expanded its network across key Asian cities using its proprietary AI platform, AI-Deate. The case study offers a detailed examination of how AI-Deate played a pivotal role in the agency’s expansion into Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Singapore.
Dissara Udomdej is the founder and CEO of Yell Advertising, the first Thai agency network. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the advertising industry and a career covering many roles, including judge, speaker, and mentor, both locally and internationally, which shows how deeply he cares about helping the industry grow and innovate.
Get your tickets to say HI at ADFEST 2024 to celebrate “Human Intelligence” from March 21 to 23. Register now.
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