BUSAN – Advertising can often be a cutthroat industry. The competition to come up with new ideas, come up with successful pitches to secure accounts, and to hire top talent can be cruel and heartless at times. However, young people with an interest in advertising can also serve as sponges for information on what the industry can provide. That is one of the reasons behind the Young Stars program at AD STARS.
To inspire students to pursue a career in advertising, AD STARS came up with the initiative that is the Young Stars program. In the case of Subhash Pinnapola, Chief Creative Officer at TBWA\Sri Lanka, he jumped at the opportunity to mold the next generation. “I got an invitation from AD STARS to inspire and guide the young ones,” Subhash shares. “I was very happy with the invitation because I always love to work with young talents and show them the path. Other mentors who were with me were Alejandro Canciobello, Golf Nuntawat, Nikolina Popovice, Ryan Son, and Teppei Ohno.
“Within two days, they had to complete their submission,” Subhash says of the Young Stars competition. “So I advised the teams that first, they need to have a game plan and have a timetable according to their strengths and stick to it. During the first time slot, they need to come up with ideas as much as they can. Second time slot, to pick their best five. Basically I helped them to find their big idea. I blew their minds using their own ideas.”
With AD STARS celebrating its 10th year in 2017, it was a big deal for the festival’s organizers to have the biggest edition yet. In fact, there were 118 participants from 11 countries. “Lots of teams are from schools,” Subhash analyzes in hindsight. “Some were shy, some were confused, some were overconfident. Only a few stuck with their game plan, the rest did something before the deadline. The teams who really wanted to learn ended up having great ideas. The beauty is that 90% of them can’t speak English, but they communicated their idea well. I told them that this is not a language competition, this is a talent competition. An idea is much more powerful than language.”
In the end, a team from Yonsei University in South Korea won the Young Stars competition. The trio of Yohan Jeong, Hyungjun Cho, and Yereen Shin were declared victors. As for Subhash’s assessment of the program, he notes, “it’s a well-organized program and I must say that I saw the “soul of AD STARS” behind these young talents.”
“AD STARS is one of the leading international awards shows in the Asia-Pacific,” Subhash notes. “It is a fast growing and fast moving festival in the ad industry and well -organized by getting into a content value in search of creative solutions. I am very much thankful to the committee of Young Stars for inviting me as a mentor to share my experience with the future creative minds.
Click here for a story on the winners of Young Stars at AD STARS 2017.
