PATTAYA, THAILAND — ADFEST 2023 is now full steam ahead at PEACH, Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand. This year, it is welcoming 762 delegates from 44 cities who will stream through its doors for the three-day festival from March 23 to 25. There is a full program available to keep them busy while they attend the event, including 33 back-to-back speaker sessions, an exhibition of all the entries submitted for the Lotus Awards as well as the presentation of the awards themselves.
Excited to kick off the first day of #ADFEST2023! As an official media partner, #adoboMagazine is on the ground to bring exclusive coverage of this year's festival. Let's get inspired & celebrate the power of advertising & creativity together! 🎉👀💡 @ADFESTbuzz pic.twitter.com/ckXc7f3Yjf
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) March 23, 2023
Sponsor
PROGRAM SESSIONS
On Day 1 at ADFEST 2023, Diederik van Middlekoop from AMP.Amsterdam // The Sonic Branding Company got us off to a flying start with “Sound at the Speed of Culture”, focusing on the power of audio.
Marko Klijn from Cirkus then stepped right up to deliver “Design Everything. Copy that?” with a look at new content IP for the creative trade.
Vero duo, Umaporn Whittaker-Thompson and Vu-Quan Nguyen-Masse tackled the subject of climate change from the perspective of communications practices with “ADFEST 2033 – Getting There Together Safely”.
Happening now: @verotruesocial's Umaporn Whittaker-Thompson & Vu-Quan Nguyen-Masse detail how the next 10 years will critically impact the practice of communication for agencies & their people in the context of the urgency to curb the climate crisis. @ADFESTbuzz pic.twitter.com/bMxIVVijAK
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) March 23, 2023
Podcasts are growing in popularity quickly, so the next session on the program is right on trend. Jeremy Ryan Slate from Command Your Brand presented “How Brands Can Take Advantage of the Billion Dollar Podcast Market”.
The last session before lunch was “Idea Smuggling” from Adams Fan of F5 Shanghai, who shares his learnings of how to use global resources to communicate with local and global markets during the three years of Covid isolation – we can all relate to that.
Have you heard of idea smuggling? F5 Shanghai's Adams Fan explains the meaning behind the term which he coined. He further discusses using global resources to communicate with local & global markets during 3 years of Covid isolation. @ADFESTbuzz pic.twitter.com/wlx9gB3SmC
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) March 23, 2023
After lunch, delegates prepared to be entertained by Napapatch Kantasil and Arthit Naidu from Meta Bangkok with their presentation “Adtertainment” featuring how Augmented Reality and Reels can be applied to creative concepts and ideas.
Moving along in the same vein, Nikola Stefanovic from The Mill Shanghai then delivered “How AI Impacts the Creative Industry” and how it can be used to enhance creative work.
The afternoon session begins with The Mill Shanghai's Nikola Stefanovic discussing how #AI can be used to enhance an artist's creativity, as well as the potential challenges and implications of AI-driven creative work. @ADFESTbuzz #RISEWITHADFEST pic.twitter.com/aSDFWtHuUm
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) March 23, 2023
The next session, “Culture & Technology: Two Worlds Converging into One” kept delegates on track. Cyril Louis and Laurent Thevenet from Publicis Groupe – Le Pub illustrated how an online self is essential in the world we live in now.
The technology theme continued with Vincent Li from Tencent, who presented “Technology Drives Chinese Culture Heritage Preservation to the Forefront of the Digital Era”, followed by “Your Future in the Metaverse” by Emile Rademeyer from Vandal.
Finally, the day at the main stage concluded with “Makers of Tomorrow” presented by Joe Braithwaite from Google, who demonstrated how to harness the tools that will build the ideas of the future.
BREAK OUT STAGE
Running concurrently with the speaker sessions on the main stage, ADFEST’s Break Out Stage has a full broadcasting schedule over the three days. INNOVA Lotus Shortlists Presentation, was broadcast on Thursday, March 23, the first day of the festival with INNOVA and Lotus Roots Screening, Juries Insights on Days 2 and 3, ending with Winners Showcase from the Friday night Awards Presentation.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS
At ADFEST 2023, in addition to attending many diverse speaker sessions and viewing the huge exhibition of entries, delegates can register for three different interactive workshops.
On Friday, March 24, “Creativity for the Mobile-First Era”, a masterclass in vertical storytelling will be run in the morning by Guan Hin Tay, Creative Chairman for BBDO Asia and Ming Wei, Founder of Boom Digital Media and one of the most followed TikTok creators in Southeast Asia, with a combined following of 35 million across his social media accounts.
On Friday afternoon, if you need to improve your understanding of augmented reality and how to create your own reel, “Step into AR and Reels” will be hosted by Meta and the SEA-TH expert team.
The final workshop will be in the afternoon on Saturday, March 25, when Final Frontier and Vogue China will be running “CG Metahumans and the Infinite New Frontier of Communication”, where delegates can learn to create avatar characters and tell engaging stories around them on- and off-line.
ADFEST PRODUCTION HUT
ADFEST 2023 has a dedicated space for production, post and visual effects, digital, data, and technology companies to present their specialist services to the creative industry, providing a unique networking forum for delegates and exhibitors alike.
There are 12 exhibitor booths including nine from Bangkok: 80 Root, Benetone Films, BrandThink, Bullet Production, Chubcheevit Studio Bangkok, Number 24 x Shutterstock, Sun and Moon, The Monk Studios, and YGGDrazil Group. Representing Tokyo’s vibrant production industry is Primary Color Music, along with The Mill from Shanghai, China, and Juice from Wroclaw in Poland.
LOTUS ROYALE LOUNGE
The Lotus Royale Lounge at ADFEST is a meeting space for the festival’s most loyal delegates who have attended the festival at least three times. VIPs will have access to the VIP Delegate Registration line, VIP zoning at the award presentations, a VIP table at ADFEST parties, and priority registrations for workshops. At the Lotus Royal Lounge, they will enjoy benefits including scheduled massage services, coffee, soft drink, and snacks. The Lotus Royale Lounge is located on the 2nd floor of PEACH, to the left of the escalator.
SPONSORS
ADFEST’s Diamond Sponsor this year is the Department of International Trade Promotions (DITP), Ministry of Commerce, Thailand.
ADFEST is also proud to be associated with its other sponsors, including, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Singha Beer, London International Awards, Advertising Producers Association, and Source/shots/Slate.
