Congratulations to Gold winners Dániel Trencsényi (DDB Budapest) & Rita Eperjesi (Isobar Budapest)
AD STARS has announced the winners of this year’s New Stars AD Competition for junior advertising professionals who have less than three years’ experience or are aged under 30 years-old. Congratulations to Dániel Trencsényi from DDB Budapest and Rita Eperjesi from Isobar Budapest, who won Gold for their ‘Soul, Grooming’ campaign.
New Stars is designed to inspire young professionals to further their career in advertising by providing them with the opportunity to respond to a live brief, with just 30 hours to meet the deadline. This year, 40 teams raced to respond to the following brief: build awareness of Panasonic’s premium electric razor to drive sales.
Joey Tiempo, Executive Creative Director of NuWorks Interactive Lab in Manila and jury president for the New Stars says, “the Gold winners were a pair from Budapest. One is from DDB and the other is from Isobar. Their work is called Soul Grooming, which touched on mental health, which I felt was very timely and culturally relevant. They were the only team to follow that line of thinking.” She added, “I had a chat with the team. They said they were inspired by how South Koreans were so obsessed with personal grooming yet mental health is a pervasive issue in the country, with one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Their idea was an app that connects to the razor and checks their well-being as they shave at the start the day. What the jury liked more than the execution is the bigness of the insight, and how it gives a higher purpose to Panasonic as a brand.
New Stars 2018 jury president and NuWorks Interactive Labs ECD Joey Tiempo with Gold winners Dániel Trencsényi of DDB Budapest and Rita Eperjesi of Isobar Budapest
“The general quality of the work was higher than I expected,” says Gábor Spielmann, Creative Director and Partner at Kabooom Advertising in Hungary, who was one of five New Star judges. “At the briefing session I tried to encourage the teams to be brave with their ideas, and it worked. Some of the entries could even have been winners at major advertising festivals. I also liked the fact they used the media in clever and innovative ways.”
Brett Macfarlane, Client Services Director / EVRY Strategic Design Lab, was also one of this year’s New Star judges. “All winning teams needed a simple but powerful idea, but the Budapest team also based theirs upon a growing generational truth: men are becoming aware that it is important to groom their mind as well as their beard. Turning the ritual of shaving into a moment of reflection is a very powerful brand idea. Brave and bold, the team reframed the product to give it deep meaning and purpose in a relevant and compelling way.”
Spielmann agrees: “I felt that their idea could work as a long-term brand idea, not just a campaign. It was not only fresh and brave but the truth in their concept made us think and engaged us. Also the Budapest team had the courage to present it a simple way, giving it a better focus. Well done!”
Congratulations to Silver-winning team Noriaki Tanimura and Mai Kaneda from McCann Health in Japan.
“Their idea was also very different and fresh. It surprised us, and it made us smile. The campaign execution was thought through well, it was all presented in a nice and entertaining way – and it was all done in one day!” says Spielmann.
Two teams were awarded Bronze: Jinhee Ahn and Hyesang Kwon from Cheil Worldwide in Korea; and Mihiro Odake and Maria Shimizu from TBWA\Hakuhodo in Japan.
Representing the Philippines, Joey Barreiro and Lizther Ann Castañeda from BBDO Guerrero won a Crystal award.
BBDO Guerrero’s Joey Barreiro and Lizther Ann Castañeda win Crystal
“Agencies are constantly searching for creative people with a bit of experience in advertising, and young creatives are constantly searching for the opportunity to show their talent. I think New Stars is a great meeting point for us. It is so much more than just a young creative competition. New Stars creates an extremely friendly and open environment for applicants and judges at the same time. We all enjoy learning from each other,” says Spielmann.
Macfarlane agrees: “New Stars is an opportunity for young agency talent to develop their practice as holistic creative thinkers. The open brief was a great test of both their creativity and strategic thinking. It was wonderful to see the range of concepts from huge and brave global brand ideas to smart insight-led campaign ideas. All teams did a great job of presenting their ideas and also the rationale – the quality of responses was very inspiring.”
