The twenty-first ADFEST wrapped up with an Awards Presentation at PEACH, Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand on Saturday, 24th March 2018.
During the four-day Festival, close to 1200 delegates from 61 cities in total walked into the venue for the advertising creativity festival and soaked up what was on offer, including international speaker sessions, breakout workshops, parties, networking events and the huge exhibition of 2,823 entries across 18 awards categories.
Jimmy Lam, President of ADFEST summed up, “Our industry needs to set the benchmark every year and send a signal about what constitutes the best creativity. Imagine what it would be like for the movie industry if there were no Oscars. Creative awards will always have their relevance. Of course, the Lotus Awards are only part of what we do – ADFEST is also a platform for people across the Asia Pacific and MENA region to come together to exchange ideas and see the best creativity from the past year.”
LOTUS AWARDS
The final awards presentation was held at PEACH on Saturday, 24th March 2018 to announce Young Lotus, Radio, Film, Media, Effective, Branded Content, Integrated, INNOVA Lotus, Lotus Roots and Special awards before delegates were treated to a festive After Party held at the fabulous Infini Pool at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Royal Cliff Hotels Group.
RADIO LOTUS
This year there were 72 entries for Radio Lotus. Four awards were announced, including 1 Bronze and 3 Silver Lotus.
Film & Radio Lotus Jury President Levi Slavin, Chief Creative Officer of Colenso BBDO, Auckland said, “A lot of people say radio is dead. I’d say that radio isn’t dead; it’s merely sleeping. And this is not just a challenge in Asia Pacific, but also around the world. We were pleased to hear entries that went beyond the conventional radio format, but we feel that more can be done to push this medium.”
When he was asked why no major awards were given in the Radio category Slavin replied, “The audio format has the potential to be more powerful than film. It taps into human imagination; what we call the theatre of the mind. Audio could be anything: from engaging radio spots, to music, to branded audio content. While we did not see anything this year that tapped into the full potential of audio, we hope to see this category challenged and pushed beyond convention next year.”
Which agency will take up the challenge?
FILM LOTUS
There were 333 entries submitted for Film Lotus.
Film & Radio Lotus Jury President Levi Slavin, Chief Creative Officer of Colenso BBDO, Auckland said, “We received a lot of good entries, but the very best entries were able to hold our attention, regardless of duration. We saw some amazing long-format entries that proved that if done engagingly, you can hold a person’s attention over long periods of time, much like feature films do.”
23 Film Lotus awards were announced, including 10 Bronze, 8 Silver 4 Gold and 1 Grande.
The Grande Lotus was awarded in Film Lotus this year. It went to FP7/CAI, Cairo for Orange “Now or Never” in the Commercial Public Services sub-category.
Slavin summarized the Jury’s decision saying, ” First and foremost the Film Grande winner was an amazing, relevant idea that could perhaps only be done in that environment. It was executed in a way that was so fresh and bold that every second carried you to the next one.”
The 4 Gold Film awards were won by:
- McCann Worldgroup Thailand, Bangkok for Sure “Capture” in the Internet Film: Beauty, Health & Personal Care sub-category,
- Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Gravity Daze 2 “Gravity Cat” in the Internet Film: Electronic, Household Products, Home Appliances & Furnishings sub-category,
- Six Inc., Tokyo for Double A “Obsession for Smoothness” for Internet Film: Finance, Commercial Public Services, Business Products and Services and finally,
- Choojai & Friends, Bangkok for AIS “Facebook Live Stunt Campaign” in Interactive Film.
EFFECTIVE LOTUS
The Effective Lotus Awards gained in popularity for the second year in a row and attracted 61 entries for ADFEST 2018. Entries must show results achieved against both the strategy and the creative work and are judged on all three criteria.
Jury President of Effective Lotus and Media Lotus Derry Simpson, Group Managing Director of 303 MullenLowe, Perth, “When it comes to the Effective Lotus category, while results are very important, they aren’t the only criteria we are looking at. There has to be a creative idea: a smart solution to a client’s problem born from a powerful, strategic insight.”
10 Effective Awards were given out in total, but there was no Grande Lotus award given this year.
Five Effective Lotus awards were given in in the Effective Lotus – Campaign Success sub-category:
- McCann Melbourne, Melbourne for University of Melbourne “Made Possible by Melbourne”
- McCann, Sydney for Mastercard Contactless “Tap for your Town”
- Tencent, Shenzen for Tencent “A Meme Gallery”
- BBDO India, Mumbai for Ariel Matic “Dads #Sharetheload and
- Choojai and Friends, Bangkok for OKMD (Public Organization) “Motorcycle Taxi Activist”.
The other five Effective Lotus awards were given to entries in the Effective Lotus: Small Budget sub-category. The winners were:
- X-Line Co., Ltd. (Dentsu), Taipei for Wacoal Sports “Wow Girls’ Lab”
- Dentsu Jayme Syfu, Manila for Refuse Plastic “Dead Whale”
- Nuworks Interactive Labs Inc., Manila for Belo Essentials Product: Belo BB Body Cream “Flawless for All”
- Cheil Worldwide, Seoul for Busan Metropolitan Police Agency “Stop Downloadkill” and finally,
- McCann Worldgroup Thailand, Bangkok for Sure “Capture”
Jury President of Effective Lotus and Media Lotus Derry Simpson, Group Managing Director of 303 MullenLowe, Perth, said, “Unfortunately, while there were cases with a lot of impressive results and others with fantastic creative ideas, we did not see a clear winner that showed how a creative, strategically sound creative idea translated to a remarkable business impact. This was why the jury decided not to award a Grande this year.”
MEDIA LOTUS
Media Lotus received 206 entries. There were 32 awards given in the category, including 1 Grande, 10 Bronze, 9 Silver and 12 Gold.
The Grande Lotus was presented to McCann Worldgroup India, Mumbai for PayTM “Sweet Change” in Best Use of Ambient: Small Scale.
Jury President of Effective Lotus and Media Lotus Derry Simpson, Group Managing Director of 303 MullenLowe, Perth said, “The Grande winner that eventually emerged was a small ambient piece that managed to change behaviour in a big way. It is such a beautiful demonstration of how when you use the right medium in a simple, culturally relevant way, the results can be powerful,”
Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyo won two Golds for its work on Monster Strike “The Zodiac Re-Race” – in Best Use of Events and Best Use of Branded Entertainment & Content: Program & Platform
4 Gold Awards went to Dentsu agencies around the region, including:
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Disaster Prevention “Emergency Collectibles” – Best Use of Print
- Dentsu Jayme Syfu, Manila for Refuse Plastic “Dead Whale” – Best use of Guerilla Marketing
- BWM Dentsu, Sydney for Victorian Government “Alert Ad” – Best Use of Digital
- BWM Dentsu, Sydney for Queensland Police “Disappearing Persons” as Best Use of Social Media and Earned Media and finally,
The other 6 Gold awards were presented to:
- Host/Havas, Sydney for Air New Zealand “Summer Wonderland” for Best Use of Audio
- GreyNJ United, Bangkok for Volvo “Lightning-Powered Billboard” – Best Use of Outdoor & Transit
- McCann Worldgroup India, Mumbai for Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan “Immunity Charm” in Best Use of Ambient: Small Scale
- 2 Gold Awards for TBWA, Sydney for Gatorade “Bolt Rate”, in Best Use of Events and Best Integrated Media Campaign
- Innocean Worldwide, Seoul for Hyundai Motor Company “Shackleton’s Return” in Best use of Branded Entertainment & Content: Digital & Social Media
“While judging the Media Lotus category, the jury had the interesting challenge of constantly reminding ourselves to focus not on brilliant creativity alone, but more on brilliant usage of media. And with digital being such a pervasive medium in the lives of consumers, we were hoping to see far more brilliant examples of digital media usage,” said Derry Simpson, Group Managing Director of 303 MullenLowe Perth and Effective Lotus & Media Lotus Jury President.
BRANDED CONTENT LOTUS
Branded Content Lotus counted 142 entries for 2018. There were 13 awards in the category, including 12 Branded Content Lotus awards and one Grande Branded Content Lotus presented to winners.
The Grande Branded Content Lotus went to Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Gravity Daze 2 “Gravity Cat” in the Best Use of Fiction Film.
Branded Content Lotus and Grand Jury President, Joyce King Thomas, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of McCann XBC, New York stated, “To promote a game that defies gravity, the agency created a world that defies gravity. It has a very Japanese sensibility, it felt from and of a place and the craftsmanship was captivating.”
INTEGRATED LOTUS
From 31 entries in the Integrated category (up from 24 entries in 2017), the Jury awarded 6 Integrated Lotus trophies and one Grande Integrated, which went to Colenso BBDO, Auckland for Pedigree “The Child Replacement Programme”.
Integrated Lotus and Grand Jury president, Joyce King Thomas, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of McCann XBC, New York explained the reasons that the Pedigree work won the Integrated Grande Award, “The attention to detail was fantastic – the films were funny, the social media was smart – it had everything you want an integrated campaign to be.”
Work submitted for Integrated Lotus Awards must work across at least three different media and take advantage of each medium’s strengths to enhance the core creative idea.
INNOVA LOTUS
ADFEST’s INNOVA Lotus Award is given for world-class concepts that have made a dramatic impact on the marketplace and are judged on their level of genuine innovation, talk-value and results. The category received 54 entries this year, an increase of fifty percent on the previous year.
This year for the first time, The Super 8 Jury Presidents judged the first-round of INNOVA Lotus entries remotely, and the shortlisted entries were presented to the jury members in front of delegates on the first day of ADFEST.
Joyce King Thomas, Grand Jury President and Jury President of INNOVA Lotus and Lotus Roots said, “We absolutely loved the new INNOVA judging format. It gave us a chance to talk to the creators behind the work and gain clarity for the film in each case. We were truly able to go beyond the idea and into the ambition of the idea.”
There were three INNOVA awards given out, plus the Grande INNOVA Lotus, which was presented to TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Cogy “Cogy Wheelchair”.
“The Grande winner showed the most ambition. Best of all, it delivered on this ambition, by demonstrating real impact to solve a real problem,” said Joyce King Thomas, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer of McCann XBC, New York and Grand Jury President & INNOVA Lotus Jury President.
LOTUS ROOTS
The Lotus Roots category represents the heart of ADFEST and is inspired by work that draws on the different histories and cultures of the countries and people of Asia Pacific and MENA regions. The category recognizes and encourages great ideas inspired by local beliefs and values and by the diversity of cultures represented at ADFEST every year.
From 150 entries, there five Lotus Roots Awards Winners. McCann Worldgroup India, Mumbai picked up the crown jewel when it was announced it had won the Grande Lotus Roots ADFEST 2018 for its work entitled, “Immunity Charm” for Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan. Joyce King Thomas, Grand Jury President and Jury President of INNOVA Lotus and Lotus Roots talked about the Lotus Roots Grande winner, “The infant mortality rate in Afghanistan is 50%, one of the highest rates in the world. The agency looked at local culture to find a solution. It’s beautiful work, and the jury felt it provides a strong start in providing an incentive for women to immunize their children.”
Jimmy Lam, President of ADFEST believes that Lotus Roots symbolizes why ADFEST is unique to Asia Pacific and MENA regions. It is what connects all the different work, people and cultures that are represented at the four-day festival. He says, “We’re especially proud of Lotus Roots, which is unique to ADFEST. In this category we recognise the best creativity that makes the most of local culture. That’s something we clearly would like to cultivate and recognise every year.”
ADFEST strives to provide a creative forum and stimulus for learning for the advertising community in Asia Pacific and the Middle East region. Every year, the great cultural diversity of work from the region is showcased, rewarded and celebrated. The festival is designed to be inspirational, educational and innovative, with integrity and openness.
