The delegates have gathered, the opening ceremonies are done. Over 3300 entries from 33 cities have entered this year, markedly down from last year. Jimmy Lam, President of the ADFEST Working Committee said, “Asia Pacific is not immune to the current worldwide downturn and the number of entries this year reflects this.”
The top three cities that have entered work remain the same as last year: Bangkok, Tokyo and Singapore. Manila is solidly in the middle, with a very respectable 162 entries. Our 11 delegates include JWT Manila’s Dave Ferrer, who serves on the Design and Print Craft juries and the ADFEST Academy, and Young Lotus reps Rachel Teotico and Leah Mababangloob, who find out tonight if they win.
This afternoon has already seen presentations on the Gunn Report, Piyush Pandey on global ad competition The Cup, JWT’s talk on China & Europe, the intriguingly-named ‘How to Build a Whole-Brained Agency,” by former Burnett Sydney head Nick Souter, and Dentsu’s Young Lotus presentation. Six awards will already be given out tonight: Young Lotus, The Cup 2008, GUNN Asia-Pacific, Direct, Design and Print Craft. More will follow tomorrow – stay tuned for ADOBO’s update!
