The much-anticipated return of Asia’s biggest celebration of creativity held in Pattaya, Thailand has begun with as much vibrant excitement and exuberance buzzing in the atmosphere that you can imagine for an event full of creative people. The sessions have discussed everything from robots to VR and female voices, and two batches of LOTUS finalists have been announced.
Here are some things we enjoyed during our first day in ADFEST:
The creativity festivities opened aptly with an exhibition of the works from the various LOTUS categories in the ADFEST awards, together with TMRRW BIZ SCHOOL, creative business school designed to educate and inspire marketers to think creativity by building their careers for the future.
The talks fstarted off with the recognition of the some of the best work from all around the world, according to the WARC Creative 100 report, presented by WARC Asia Pacific Managing Director Ed Pank who rounded up the notable trends among these stellar works and revealed insights from the world’s most creative agencies and brands.
“Will we lose our jobs to AI?” is the question Vishal Sagar and Gurbaksh Singh of Dentsu Webchutney asked to start their talk on Ideas, Patterns and AI. We humans have developed a system that has become way better than us in recognizing patterns: Artificial intelligence.
Founder of 2kg Thomas Hongtack Kim talks about the human experience as an important factor in today’s tech-driven society. Rather than fearing technology and its fast-paced developments, we can work with it as a supporting element to create communication and creative solutions.
The long-awaited announcement of LOTUS finalists was also a highlight of the day, with agencies and creatives eagerly anticipating the results. 2 rounds of finalists have been announced on March 19 and 20 for the following LOTUS categories:
First Batch of finalists here:
- Brand Experience and Engagement Lotus
- Direct Lotus
- eCommerce Lotus
- Effective Lotus
- Integrated Lotus
- Media Lotus
- New Director Lotus
Second Batch of finalists here:
- Audio Lotus
- Branded Entertainment Lotus
- Film Craft Lotus
- Film Lotus
- Interactive Lotus
- Mobile Lotus
The finalists for the young creatives who paired up to join MullenLowe’s YOUNG LOTUS workshop was also announced. From 18 teams to 5, get the full list here.
We all have the VVS disease but what exactly is it? The Vertical Video Syndrome is the new disease that has been hitting our screens and various platforms like Youtube and Instagram have since adapted. Guan Hin Tay discussed the benefits of stories and content through the vertical viewing experience in his talk Think Within the 9:16 Box: Vertical Storytelling.
The night was capped off with a Network Cocktail at the Grand Pool Patio of Royal Cliff Hotels Group. Everyone from delegates, speakers, VIPS and press all came together for a fun night of talking, networking eating and drinking.
Stay tuned for a recap on Day 2 tomorrow!
For more information about ADFEST, visit their website here.
