BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA — Curiosity, aspiration, and excellence permeated the final day of MAD STARS 2024, the international conference celebrating excellence in creativity, marketing, and advertising, held from August 21 to 23 at BEXCO in Busan, South Korea.
Adobo Magazine closely followed the insightful Young Stars jury session and the much-awaited keynote by Fernando Machado, Operating Partner at Garnett Station Partners. Here’s a glimpse into what these industry titans shared with the MAD STARS attendees.
How stars can shine brighter: a conversation with the Young Stars Jury
Moderated by Ben Heo, Vice Chairperson of MAD STARS, the Young Stars jury panel included Alejandro di Trolio, European Creative Chairman, Cheil Worldwide; Mario Loncar, Senior Copywriter, Leo Burnett Frankfurt; Jiro Murayama, Creative Director and Producer, Dentsu Inc.; Raymund Sison, Chairman, DMAP Digital Young Creators; and Sarah Guessoum, Creative Strategy Lead UAE, TikTok.
The jury reviewed submissions from this year’s Young Stars participants, offering valuable insights to the aspiring creatives in attendance. The submitted concepts seemed to resonate with solving modern-day problems through sustainable, AI-powered solutions — ideas ranging from slow fashion, climate change, marine life sustainability, eco-friendly travel, and more.
Alejandro commented on the submissions and stressed the importance of keeping concept boards snappy and memorable. He shared, “One of the most important lessons in advertising is that if you have the ability to compress your idea in one title and tagline, the rest will be easy to understand.”
Raymund echoed this sentiment, urging young creatives to “get to the heart of the matter of what you really want to say.”
Jiro added, “Good ideas must be easy to understand (…) you do not have to think about the whole structure of a campaign. Focus on one strength point.”
Mario advised simplicity in communication: “Tell the idea like how you would explain it to your grandparents.”
On the integration of AI in their concepts, Sarah and Mario praised the Young Stars participants for balancing technology with human insight. “Even though you’re focusing on using tech and AI, I like that you [Young Stars participants] kept the human element mostly through humor and connection.”
“AI has been around for a while now, [and] there are many prompts to use for communication. I appreciate the human insight, it’s very simple and on the point,” Mario shared.
The panel discussion attracted many questions from Young Stars participants, who were all curious about how they could improve their work and skillsets as advertising creatives.
The jurors further explained how young creatives can attune themselves to producing meaningful, award-winning work. Raymund highlighted intent, articulation, and authenticity as key elements of strong creative concepts: “Creativity is about problem-solving and servicing humanity. If you are sincere about solving the problem, you will do it well.”
Sarah encouraged, “You want to empower the viewer; you want people to stop, think about it, and act on it.”
Meanwhile, Alejandro and Mario elaborated on identifying solutions for building a campaign. “You need to do something feasible and attainable in the real world,” Alejandro told the Young Stars. “Try to find different or multiple solutions to the problem. Always criticize your own ideas from different angles.”
Mario added, “The world has many problems, but it also has many solutions.”
Fernando Machado on fueling creativity and innovation with AI
“AI did not do it alone. You need creativity and human talent to make things happen,” emphasized Fernando Machado, Operating Partner at Garnett Station Partners, during his keynote address, “How Artificial Intelligence and Creativity Can Fuel Innovation.”
The session drew a packed room of creatives, advertising professionals, students, and brand representatives eager to hear from one of the industry’s most influential figures. Fernando, who also serves as Senior Marketing Advisor at Chilean food tech company NotCo, shared insights from his work in building the brand into a global leader in vegan and cruelty-free food alternatives.
He shared the case studies for “MayoHaters,” a campaign that involved inviting die-hard mayonnaise haters to try their products “NotMayo,” and “NotTurtle,” an AI-driven campaign that helped save endangered turtles from being consumed.
As Fernando acknowledged the helping hand AI provided on the award-winning campaign, he also shared his take on AI taking over several industries. He noted: “Just like any other new tools or new technology, we need to identify rules and regulations for AI.”
Another highlight from Fernando’s keynote session was the answers he provided to both agency and brand representatives, who were all curious about how one of the world’s most remarkable brand men execute these kinds of campaigns.
“I’ve never worked nor crossed into the agency side, unfortunately,” Fernando commented. Regardless of what side he’s working on, he answered: “I always try to understand what makes the other side of the table tick.”
Fernando encouraged the audience to challenge conventional thinking by asking “why not.” He further prompted them to find ways to do things differently and seek constant collaboration, whether as a brand or agency.
“No matter how bad the client is, there’s always someone on the team willing to do the work,” Fernando affirmed. “Try to find the person in the group who actually wants to do something decent, something meaningful.”
On briefing creative partners in a way that inspired, Fernando answered that it’s essential that both sides of the table have a shared understanding of the brand and the creativity it involves in executing the work. “I will die fighting internally to make a good idea happen,” he chuckled.
The festival’s final day concluded with the much-anticipated Awards Ceremony.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of MAD STARS 2024.
