BUSAN – On the 10th anniversary of the annual festival held in this metropolitan city in South Korea, AD STARS made sure to pay tribute to those who helped it in the past, yet also looked to the future. The Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) has been home to AD STARS in recent years, as the festival has steadily grown in stature to be among the world’s most celebrated advertising festivals.
The ground floor of the BEXCO was awash in color and activity, even as the centerpiece gave a short summary of every AD STARS that has happened. From humble beginnings when it was first held at the Haeundae Grand Hotel in 2008, each subsequent AD STARS has gotten progressively bigger, and this year is the biggest one yet.
During the Opening Ceremonies for AD STARS 2017, the festival organizers chose to honor several entities who have continuously supported or have been instrumental in the success of AD STARS past. No less than Busan Metropolitan Mayor Byung Soo Suh was on hand to open AD STARS to the public. Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award in the local category was Cheil Worldwide Nack-Hoi Kim, while the Lifetime Achievement Award in the international category went to none other than adobo magazine. adobo editor-in-chief Angel Guerrero has been an AD STARS supporter since its inception, helping the publication earn this award.
Other awards handed out on August 24 included Top Innovative Agency going to BlueFocus Digital, Yellow Digital Marketing, Inc., and Hakuhodo. The Top Innovative Media Platform went to LINE Corporation out of Japan, Yahoo Japan Corporation, Focus Media Platform, and Baidu from China.
At the introductory press conference for AD STARS 2017, Euija Lee and Hwanjin Choi, co-chairpersons of the AD STARS executive committee, were joined four of the AD STARS executive judges in meeting some media members. The executive judges answered questions on the evolution of the event and the types of ads that they have been progressively seeing since the festival began. Wain Choi, Chief Creative Officer at Cheil Worldwide; Helen Pak, Chief Creative Officer or Grey Group Canada; Suthisak Sucharittanonta, Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Bangkok; and Daniel da Hora, Chief Creative Officer of DH,LO, represented all the other jury members of AD STARS.
Pak, an advertising veteran who left Korea at three-years-old and is back in the country for the first time in over four decades, noted some of the things that made AD STARS stand out from other similar festivals. “There’s more of an openness and a feeling of democracy here with a feel of creativity plus technology,” she said of AD STARS. “Since there’s no entry fee to submit your work, it’s interesting that we can share these works with a broader community.”
Hwanjin Choi explained the overall AD STARS theme of “Creativity +-x÷Technology” at the same press conference. The theme focuses on the synergy between creativity and technology, and how genuine creativity appeals to human nature with analog technology. In addition, the AD STARS organizers mentioned that, by next year, they plan to include a Video Stars category to expand the scope of the festival even further. They also have a plan to open a permanent advertising museum in the city of Busan in the near future.
