ADFEST is delighted to reveal the winners of 10 of a total 19 categories, which were announced today at the ADFEST 2019 Lotus Awards. Creative professionals from agencies, digital and production studios were presented with trophies tonight in the first of two Awards ceremonies. The second ceremony takes place tomorrow night, 23rdMarch, at PEACH, Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand.

Fifty-six jury members from 22 cities chose this year’s winners, guided by Grand Jury President Mark Tutssel, Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago.

Jimmy Lam, President of ADFEST, said: “ADFEST Lotus Awards juries have always been selected to represent the diversity of cultures in our region and I have always been proud of their passion and integrity. With Lotus Roots being an integral part of our awards portfolio, it is critical that we have an all-star jury of experts in their field who represent different cultural perspectives from markets around the world. This year I am also delighted that so many female leaders accepted our invitation to join the ADFEST jury, making this year the highest quota of female jurors in our festival’s history.”

INTERACTIVE LOTUS

This year, there were 96 entries in the Interactive Lotus category with 6 Bronze, 4 Silver and 2 Gold awards. There was no Grande awarded. Two Gold Lotuses in Interactive were awarded to:

• Dentsu Inc., Tokyofor Gatsby Perfect Skin Lotion ‘The Kawaii Tweak Hazard Song’

• BWM Dentsu, Sydneyfor The AIS Association ‘Project Revoice’.

Interactive and Mobile Jury President Natalie Lam, International Executive Creative Director, New York, said: “What we liked about ‘The Kawaii Tweak Hazard Song’ is it has high entertainment value while also making us question our addiction to social media and why we spend so much time on it. It’s fun; it made us laugh. We also loved Project Revoice, which is not only an impressive piece of technology but it serves a bigger human purpose. We really could see how giving back someone’s voice is such a magical, moving thing.”

MOBILE LOTUS

Mobile Lotus received 65 entries with 3 Bronze, 5 Silver and 1 Gold Lotus awards. There was no Grande awarded. Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo won Gold for Panasonic Hearing Instruments ‘Bird Hearing Test’.

“This is a very charming piece of work. When people lose their hearing, they can no longer hear certain birdcalls. So Hakuhodo created an app encouraging people to test their hearing in the forest by listening for different birds. It’s essentially a hearing diagnostic tool, but it makes the experience fun, and uses a lot of data to turn a dry subject into a very charming experience,” said Interactive and Mobile Jury President Natalie Lam, International Executive Creative Director, New York.

“Overall, I’m really amazed at the number of non-tech brands in Asia, particularly Japan and Korea, that are using AI and data in really interesting ways,” says Lam.

DESIGN LOTUS

From a total of 241 entries to the Design Lotus category, there were 12 Bronze, 10 Silver, 6 Gold and 1 Grande Lotus awards. The Grande Design Lotus was awarded to Innocean Worldwide, Seoulfor Hyundai Motor Company ‘2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic, Paralympic Hyundai Pavilion’.

“Innocean’s campaign for Hyundai is a really fantastic piece of design, executed at a huge scale. We were very impressed with this category overall – one thing I love about Asian award shows is that you see different local cultures embedded in the work. In some sub-categories in particular, such as Posters, we saw incredible amounts of excellent, very diverse work,” said Design and Print Craft Jury President Ali Rez, Regional Creative Director, Impact BBDO Middle East & Pakistan, Dubai & Lahore.

Barbara Humphries, Creative Director at The Monkeys, Sydney also judged the Design and Print Craft Lotus categories. She said: “I thought the quality of the work overall was of a really high standard, and there were many outstanding pieces. Print is a wonderfully tactile medium and that plays a huge role in how we view and experience the design itself. Continually seeing design and communication online, it’s easy to forget how fundamental our senses are in appreciating craft on a physical and human level.”

Regarding this year’s Grande Design winner, she added: “For us it came down to the integration of the idea through the physical experience of the work, the chosen visual language, and the impact of the design itself. It was a really moving piece of work.”

Six Gold awards in Design were awarded to:

• TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyofor AIG Japan Holdings ‘Pride Jersey’

• TBWA\India, Mumbaifor Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute ‘Blink to Speak’

• Dentsu Inc., Tokyofor Kanazawa High School Sumo Wrestling Tournament ‘72 Posters for School Teams participating in the High School Sumo Tournament – Project to increase Sumo Wrestlers’ 

• Dentsu Inc., Tokyo/ Que Corporation for Ofurobu ‘Find a new face of ‘Ofuro’’

• The Brand Agency, Perthfor Foodbank WA ‘Hungry Puffs’

• TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno, Manila for Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines Inc. ‘This is a tree’.

PRINT CRAFT LOTUS

There were 137 entries to the Print Craft Lotus category and 4 Bronze, 7 Silver, 4 Gold and 1 Grande Lotus awards. The Grande Lotus for Print Craft was awarded to Ogilvy Hong Kongfor KFC Hong Kong ‘Hot & Spicy campaign’.

“This is fantastic work from its conceptual design to the craft, which is awesome – but it’s also a client’s dream because the product is so large. They did it so well, it’s just a really beautiful piece of work,” said Design and Print Craft Jury President Ali Rez, Regional Creative Director, Impact BBDO Middle East & Pakistan, Dubai & Lahore.

Barbara Humphries, Creative Director at The Monkeys, Sydney also judged the Design and Print Craft Lotus categories, and adds: “This one was a bit of a no brainer, as it was so strong in so many of the sub-categories. A very humbling example of a simple idea executed faultlessly.”

Gold awards in Print Craft were also awarded to:

• Ogilvy Hong Kong for KFC Hong Kong ‘Dragster’

• Ogilvy Hong Kongfor KFC Hong Kong ‘Hot & Spicy Campaign’ 

• Illusion Co., Ltd., Bangkok andOgilvy Group Thailand, Bangkokfor Freeland ‘Kill one, Kill all’ 

• Cheil Worldwide, Hong Kongfor JBL (ITECT Ltd) ‘Block out the Chaos Campaign’. 

BRAND EXPERIENCE & ENGAGEMENT LOTUS

The Brand Experience & Engagement Lotus was formerly called the Promo Lotus category. From 230 entries, there were 6 Bronze, 9 Silver, 5 Gold and 1 Grande Lotus awards. The Grande Lotus was awarded to Dentsu Inc., Tokyofor Chicken Ramen ‘Akuma No Kimura (Demonically Spicy Ramen)’.

“The Grande winner is full of fun and happy energy. This devilish campaign showed the boldness of transforming Chicken Ramen's lovely character Hiyoko-chan into a monster chicken full of evil energy. It's a great idea to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the world's oldest ramen, and it's a powerful animation and witty story that's going to spread through social networks. It completely captivated the judges, and most of all, it was a perfect fit for the category.”

“The overall level of entries in this category was very high. We laughed or cried during the judging because there was a lot of empathy shown in the ideas, which actually drive the market and create a lot of repercussions at a fraction of the cost,” said Kate Hyewon Oh, Chief Creative Officer at Cheil Worldwide, Seoul and this year’s Brand Experience & Engagement and Direct Jury President.

Congratulations to our Gold winners:

• Dentsu Inc., Tokyofor SOH ‘Play with your food’  

• TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyofor AIG Japan Holdings, ‘Pride Jersey’

• BBDO Bangkokfor Mercedes-Benz Vans ‘The Universal Language of Pain’

• Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyofor Y!Mobile ‘720 Hours of Youth’

• Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyofor Takasaki City ‘Red Restaurants List’

DIRECT LOTUS

There were 187 entries to the Direct Lotus category with 4 Bronze, 3 Silver, 8 Gold and 1 Grande Lotus trophies awarded. The Grande Lotus for Direct was awarded to CHE Proximity, Melbournefor Carsales.com.au ‘AutoAds’, which also won two Gold Lotuses.

“Auto Ads was unanimously chosen by all of us. It's a really smart campaign that tailors the business of selling used cars directly to consumer's needs. Consumers have a wonderful experience with their uploaded cars and even their names appearing on TV and online in cool advertisements. It is a perfect campaign in terms of scale and outcome,” said Brand Experience & Engagement and Direct Jury President Kate Hyewon Oh, Chief Creative Officer at Cheil Worldwide, Seoul.

In terms of emerging trends, Oh says: “We are seeing more and more consumer involvement in the creative process, and creating results together. Consumers are no longer audiences, but colleagues and competitors on the creative stage. Sometimes I'm afraid of those changes as a creator, but if we accept that creative is not a one-way show, but a journey that's being made together with consumers, we'll find many possibilities in this trend.”

Congratulations to this year’s remaining Gold winners in Direct:

• Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyofor Takasaki City ‘Red Restaurants List’, which won two Golds

• The Brand Agency, Perthfor Foodbank WA ‘Hungry Puffs’

• Cheil Worldwide, Seoulfor Firevase ‘Firevase’

• CHE Proximity, Melbournefor Cochlear ‘Hearprint’

• BWM Dentsu, Sydneyfor The ALS Association ‘Project Revoice’.

OUTDOOR LOTUS

The one Granded Lotus trophies was awarded to:

• J. Walter Thompson Bangkok, NETFLIX, Narcos The Censor's Cut.

The four Gold Lotus trophies were awarded to:

• Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, Shanghai, Nike China, 'Nike React Stunt'

• Innored, Seoul, The North Face, 'Super Air Down Drone Attack'

• Ogilvy Hong Kongfor KFC Hong Kong ‘Hot & Spicy campaign’

• TBWA (Thailand) CO.,LTD , Bangkok, Mcdonald's, "The All Nighters Campaign".

PRESS LOTUS

The one Granded Lotus trophies was awarded to:

• Ogilvy Hong Kongfor KFC Hong Kong ‘Hot & Spicy campaign’.

The one Gold Lotus trophies was awarded to:

• TBWA (Thailand) CO.,LTD , Bangkok, Mcdonald's, "The All Nighters Campaign".

FILM CRAFT LOTUS

One Granded Louts was awarded to:

• SHISEIDO Co., Ltd., TOKYO, Brand SHISEIDO, "The Party Bus".

The two Gold Lotus trophies were both awarded to:

• GREYnJ United, Bangkokfor K Plus ‘Friendshit’.

NEW DIRECTOR LOTUS

The one Gold Lotus trophies was awarded to:

• Linkfilms, Shanghai, WABC, 'The Role'.

Fabulous Five Commendation:

• Dentsu Creative X Inc., TOKYO, Ma Murata, 'My Jellyfish'.

AUDIO LOTUS

There were 45 entries in the Audio Lotus category (formerly called the Radio Lotus category) with 1 Bronze, 1 Silver and 2 Golds awarded, but no Grande Lotus. One Gold Lotus award was presented to McCann Worldgroup Philippines, Manilafor Fully Booked ‘Fully Booked Lives – Ed’. Another Gold was presented to BWM Dentsu, Sydneyfor The ALS Association, ‘Project Revoice’.

Audio and Film Jury President Prasoon Joshi, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, said: “Project Revoice provides an innovation to help people who will lose their voice preserve their original voice. We also loved the Fully Booked campaign. It’s a beautiful idea that creates excitement around books and makes you inquisitive to read. Overall, we saw lots of innovation in Audio – creatives are redefining the category itself.”

Rebecca Carrasco, Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney also judged the Audio and Film Lotus categories. She said: “The Gold winners in Audio both stood out for quite different reasons. One was a beautiful radio idea, where you’re unwittingly led down the garden-path into the life of a madman, for an online bookstore. And the other was a beautiful audio idea, where the manipulation of sound gave back a voice that was a symbol of hope to so many ASL sufferers, before it was finally silenced by ASL disease.”

FILM LOTUS

From 310 entries, there were 9 Bronze, 4 Silver and 3 Gold awards, but no Grande Lotus winner in this category. The three Gold Lotus trophies were awarded to:

• GREYnJ United, Bangkokfor K Plus ‘Friendshit’

• TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno, Manilafor Bahay Tuluyan Philippines (Shelter House) ‘Disgusting Stories’ 

• Leo Burnett Malaysia, Kuala Lumpurfor Voice of the Children ‘Speak up’. 

“'Friendshit' stood out because the direction, casting and writing are fantastically done. ‘Disgusting Stories’ was a timeless idea, while ‘Speak Up’ is of the moment – it encourages people to do more than watch, share or like a video but to take action,” said Audio and Film Jury President Prasoon Joshi, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific.

In terms of emerging trends, Joshi says: “If we were awarding pure craft only, we would have had a lot more winners. I would like to encourage younger generations to pay equal attention to idea and execution. Not many entries married both. There was a time when our industry felt Public Service Announcements for charity work should not win Grande awards. The time has come to reconsider this. A lot of brands are partnering more with charities. What we need to understand is that this work is brand related. We are living in a world where people do care about what their favorite brands are doing for humanity at large – they are not just consuming their products but also their brand philosophies.”

Rebecca Carrasco, Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney also judged the Audio and Film Lotus categories. She adds: “Disgusting Stories was a particularly powerful idea. Using the actual illustrations that sexually abused children have drawn to communicate what happened to them, to communicate how profoundly wrong this whole issue is, creates an incredibly confronting message, which stays with you. Actually, it just rips your heart out. Had we been able to award a Grande to a PSA in this category, I don’t think we would have stopped at Gold.”

BRANDED ENTERTAINMENTLOTUS

From a total of 141 entries, there were 11 Bronze, 3 Silver, 3 Gold plus 1 Grande Lotus awards. The Grande Lotus for Branded Entertainment was awarded to GREYnJ United, Bangkokfor K PLUS ‘Friendshit’, which also won 1 Gold.

“The jury was looking for work that was brilliant in its thinking and innovative in its execution. We wanted to shine a light on the bravest, most transformative creative ideas in the region,” explains Mark Tutssel, Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago. Tutssel led the Branded Entertainment, Effective and Integrated Lotus as Jury President. 

“We found one supreme example in ‘Friendshit’. It connected the brand, Kasikorn Bank’s K PLUS app, to people in a unique and engaging way. A brilliant and highly entertaining idea that created human value and rewarded people for their time.” 

The two other Gold awards were awarded to:

• Publicis Singaporefor Vicks India ‘One in a Million’  

• J. Walter Thompson, Bangkokfor Sunsilk ‘Hair Talk’.

EFFECTIVE LOTUS

There were 63 entries to this category with 3 Bronze, 1 Silver and 1 Gold trophies awarded, but no Grande. The Sour Bangkok won Gold for GMM Grammy ‘Girl From Nowhere’. The series tells the story of Nanno, a mysterious schoolgirl who takes the audience on an extraordinary tale of revenge. Powered by women to empower women, the IP is co-owned by the agency and client. 

“The agency created a new business model by turning themselves, ‘the creative agency for women’, into an insightful content creator. The series created incredible social impact,” says Branded Entertainment, Effective and Integrated Lotus Jury President Mark Tutssel, who is Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago.

INTEGRATED LOTUS

From 16 entries, there were 2 Bronze and 1 Silver Lotuses awarded, but no Grande in this category. 

The standout idea in the Integrated category was created by Leo Burnett, Melbournefor Goulburn Valley ‘Goulburn Valley Food Tours’, which won Silver. The brand is pushing for full transparency by creating a labeling system that leverages GPS to show consumers the exact location where food is grown. 

“Now more than ever people want to know where the food that fuels them comes from. People are smart, they want to know more. This innovative idea created human value, empowering consumers like never before, and integrated the brand into the fabric of life,” said Tutssel, this year’s Branded Entertainment, Effective and Integrated Lotus Jury President. Tutssel is Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago.

INNOVA LOTUS

This year’s INNOVA finalists presented their work live to an audience of ADFEST delegates, and were questioned on-stage by our panel of eight Jury Presidents. There were 40 entries to the INNOVA Lotus category with 4 INNOVA Lotus winners and 3 finalists.

Congratulations to this year’s INNOVA Lotus winners:  

• Grey Malaysia, Kuala Lumpurfor Tesco Malaysia ‘Unforgettable Bag’

• BWM Dentsu, Sydneyfor The ALS Association ‘Project Revoice’

• Leo Burnett Colombo / Leo Burnett Torontofor JAT Paints ‘Petal Paint’

• FP7 McCann Dubaifor Babyshop ‘Al Umobuwah: Putting ‘mum’ into ‘parenthood’.

“Creativity is a deep understanding of human behaviour that we translate into transformative solutions for our clients. We solve business problems by creating human value through creativity. The level of creativity in this future-facing category was outstanding. Highly innovative ideas that challenged the status quo and moved the industry forward,” says Mark Tutssel, Grand Jury President and Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago.

“The four winners of this prestigious award were all outstanding examples of the alchemy of creativity, data and technology creating remarkable Human Value.”

LOTUS ROOTS WINNERS

The Lotus Roots category represents the heart of ADFEST and is inspired by work that draws on the different histories and cultures of the countries and people of Asia Pacific and MENA regions. The category recognizes and encourages great ideas inspired by the diversity of cultures represented at ADFEST every year. 

From 146 entries, there was 1 Grande Lotus Roots winner: FP7 McCann Dubaifor Babyshop ‘Al Umobuwah: Putting ‘Mum’ into ‘Parenthood’. Babyshop became the first brand to create a new Arabic word, giving mothers across the Middle East an equal place in the Arabic word for “Parenthood”, challenging deep-rooted biases and conventions. 

“This brave new word champions Mums, and has woven itself into the vernacular, and is on the verge of being included in the Arabic dictionary,” explains Tutssel, Grand Jury President and Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago.

“The future will be one where fortune favours the curious, the change agents, the new creative thinkers and most importantly, those who best understand HumanKind. Advertising today doesn’t compete with advertising: advertising competes with popular culture. Our work has to be irresistible and more interesting and immersive than anything else people are searching for. The Lotus Roots exist to reward that level, and quality, of thinking.” 

Congratulations to this year’s six Lotus Roots winners – all breakthrough ideas that demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of human behavior and local culture: 

• Colenso BBDO, Aucklandfor Spark New Zealand ‘Kupu’

• Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyofor Takasaki City ‘Red Restaurants List’

• Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Kobe Newspaper ‘Since 1995’

• Leo Burnett Colombo / Leo Burnett Torontofor JAT Paints ‘Petal Paint’

• R/GA Tokyo / Shiseido Co. Ltd., Tokyofor Shiseido ‘My Crayon Project’

• Rabbit Digital Group Company Limited, Bangkok for Siam Commercial Bank ‘Mae-ma-nee Money Solution’.

eCOMMERCE LOTUS

ADFEST introduced a new eCommerce Lotus category this year, recognizing the rise of retail innovators and brand campaigns. From 18 entries, there were 2 Bronze and 3 Silver Lotuses awarded.

“It’s an honour to be judging this new category, especially with the eCommerce boom in this region. The judges were delighted to see works where eCommerce isn’t just playing a supporting role, but is at the heart of the consumer experience. Ideas that found insightful ways to put consumers at the centre of the creative solution and the user experience shined in this category,” said eCommerce and Media Jury President Mitsuyuki Nakamura, Global President, dentsu X, London.

“Although we couldn’t identify an entry that clearly stood out above the rest, we were still encouraged by the submissions that clearly found insightful ways to connect through this thriving medium. We’re confident that we’ll see more amazing eCommerce works in the future, as it becomes ubiquitous in this region.”

Silver awards were awarded to:

• Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Vegi-Bus ‘Vegi-Bus’

• AKQA Shanghai for Nike ‘Never Done Shop’

• TenCent, Hong Kong for TenCent ‘We Remit’.

MEDIA LOTUS

From 178 entries, there were 14 Bronze, 8 Silver and 3 Gold Lotus awards, but no Grande Lotus was awarded.

“The diversity and complexity of media made this an exciting yet challenging category to judge. The judges were looking for ideas that clearly took advantage of a human insight, and understood the role of their respective media in connecting the dots to solve a business challenge,” said eCommerce and Media Jury President Mitsuyuki Nakamura, Global President, dentsu X, London.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the work seemed to showcase the use of media for the sake of it, rather than using real insights to make a meaningful, sustainable contribution to business results. Perhaps this is a sign that we need do more to keep up with the complexities and opportunities of media. And to ultimately dig deeper to understand the consumer we hope our media would connect with.”

The Gold awards were awarded to:

• BWM Dentsu, Sydney for The ALS Association, ‘Project Revoice’

• The Brand Agency, Perth for Foodbank WA ‘Hungry Puffs’

• CHE Proximity, Melbourne for Carsales.com.au ‘AutoAds’.

MEET ADFEST 2019’S WINNING YOUNG LOTUS TEAM: HOLLY BURGESS & LUCY LOGAN, LEO BURNETT MELBOURNE

ADFEST is pleased to reveal the winners of the 2019 Young Lotus Workshop, which was hosted by MullenLowe Group. The workshop’s theme was “Full Stack Creative”, and after a series of lectures and workshops, MullenLowe Group assigned 18 Young Lotus teams with a real-world brief from Google x MullenLowe.

With just 24 hours to make the deadline, the brief was to come up with an idea to increase people’s usage of Google Home – a device millions of people have, but often use sparingly.

Holly Burgess, Copywriter and Lucy Logan, Art Director at Leo Burnett Melbourne, are the winners of this year’s Young Lotus Workshop. Their trophy was presented to them during the Lotus Awards Presentation on Saturday, 23rd March – the final day of ADFEST 2019.

“Holly and Lucy were clear winners because they went beyond what was expected.  Instead of starting with the small, everyday things Google Home does, they started with a very big question: how can Google Home change our habits to help us make the world a better place? It’s a very smart idea that’s in keeping with the concerns of Generation Z, and it was very well put together and executed,” says Vincent Digonnet, Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer, MullenLowe Group and Chairman of this year’s Young Lotus Workshop.

The Young Lotus Popular Vote was won Asuka Kobayashi and Mariko Kondo (Art Director and Strategist, Beacon Communications K.K.) from Tokyo. The Popular Vote was tallied from delegate votes after today’s session, ‘MullenLowe Group presents Young Lotus Workshop 2019: Full Stack Creative’ where all the finalists presented their work.

Congratulations to ADFEST 2019’s three other Young Lotus finalists:

• Dhaka: Imtiaz Kabir (Visualizer, Adcomm Ltd.)

• Hong Kong: Christopher Lui and Hody Chan (Strategic planner and Group Head, PHD Hong Kong)

• Kuala Lumpur: Carolyn Tze Lyn Chow and Zhe Yuan Chin (Creative Hybrids, Dentsu Malaysia Sdn Bhd)

ADFEST CONCLUDES WITH THIS YEAR’S SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS

• DENTSU INC. WINS AGENCY OF THE YEAR

• CJ WORX IS 2019 INDEPENDENT AGENCY OF THE YEAR

• DENTSU IS NETWORK OF THE YEAR

• HUB HO HIN AND SHOTS POST PRODUCTION BANGKOK

• IS PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR

ADFEST is delighted to announce this year’s Special Awards winners, which won the highest number of awards at the ADFEST 2019 Lotus Awards.

Congratulations to this year’s Special Award winners:

• Dentsu Inc. was elected Agency of the Year 2019

• CJ WORX, Bangkok won Independent Agency of the Year

• DENTSU was named Network of the Year. The group of 10 offices that entered the ADFEST Lotus 

Awards includes Denstu Inc., Tokyo; Dentsu Digital Inc., Tokyo; Dentsu East Japan Inc., Tokyo; Dentsu Public Relations Inc., Tokyo; BWM Dentsu, Sydney; Taproot Dentsu, Mumbai; Dentsu Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore; Que Corporation, Tokyo; Frontage Inc., Tokyo; X-Line Co. Ltd., Taipei.

• Digital Agency of the Year was awarded to BWM Dentsu, Sydney

• Production Company of the Year was awarded to Hub Ho Hin Bangkok / Shots Post Production Bangkok

• Media Agency of the Year was awarded to InHype, Dubai

• Advertiser of the Year was presented to The ALS Association.

LOTUS GRANDE FOR HUMANITY

The Lotus Grande for Humanity recognizes creative excellence in the Public Services & Cause Appeals categories. Gold Lotus winners in other Lotus categories are eligible to win the Lotus Grande for Humanity. This year’s winner is BWM Dentsu, Sydney for The ALS Association ‘Project REVOICE’ – the world’s first voice changing program for people with ALS. Project REVOICE uses a deep learning algorithm to analyze the DNA of a person’s voice and create a complete digital voice clone.

“Enabling people who lose the ability to talk, to continue to speak in their authentic and personal voice is breakthrough. This is a voice cloning revolution. The days of machine-sounding voices may be over. REVOICE, powered by advanced voice changing technology, is groundbreaking, and creates remarkable human value. Going forward it will be absolutely life changing for people living with motor neuron disease worldwide,” said Mark Tutssel, ADFEST 2019’s Grand Jury President, and Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago.

Interactive and Mobile Jury President Natalie Lam, International Executive Creative Director, New York, said: “This is not only an impressive piece of technology but it serves a human purpose. Voice assistant technology isn’t new, but this idea shows us its possibilities – we really could see the magic and power of using technology to affect lives by giving back someone’s voice.”

LOTUS LEGEND: JUREEPORN THAIDUMRONG

One of Thailand’s most influential creatives, Jureeporn Thaidumrong, has been named the 2019 Lotus Legend at ADFEST 2019. Thaidumrong – or ‘Judee’, as she is affectionately known – is GREYnJ UNITED’s Chief Creative Officer. In a career spanning 30 years, she has consistently ranked among the world’s most-awarded creatives.

“Judee is super smart, brilliant and brave, and despite it all… very down to earth and humble, which I really admire. I’m lucky to have had the chance to work closely with her over the years. She has helped put Thailand on the world map of advertising and inspires many Thai creatives. Congratulations to Judee. So well deserved!” says Suthisak Sucharittanonta, Creative Chairman of BBDO Bangkok, who announced this year’s Lotus Legend at tonight’s Lotus Awards.

“Judee is larger than life, a trailblazer at heart and the brains behind some of Thailand’s most famous, beloved campaigns. She has played a major role in raising the profile of Thai creativity, and has won countless Lotus Awards over the course of her career – she joins some of the industry’s true greats as our 2019 Lotus Legend,” says Jimmy Lam, President of ADFEST.

Thaidumrong is the founder of JEH United, which is now GREYnJ UNITED, part of WPP’s Grey Group Thailand. JEH United is behind Thai classics like the Smooth-E "Love Story" commercial and the controversial “Sorry Thailand” TVC that reflected on the nation’s political turmoil in 2010. More recently campaigns such as the K PLUS “Friendshit” campaign – which has been a big winner at ADFEST 2019 – and Pantene’s #SeeBeautyNotGender have helped her rank #1 in Campaign Brief's poll of Asia’s Creative Director of the Year 2018.

ADFEST’s Lotus Legends are nominated by the jurors of the annual Lotus Awards.

“My apologies I cannot be with you tonight in Pattaya to accept this award – I want to thank so many people in my life for giving me opportunities and supporting me, and for being my mentors,” said Thaidumrong, who accepted her award remotely as she is currently travelling in the Dominican Republic. 

SUMMING UP ADFEST 2019

As the 22nd ADFEST drew to a close on the eve of Saturday, 23rd March 2019, the final tally of delegates through the doors was 1,120 delegates from 63 cities and 34 countries worldwide.

Film Craft and New Director Jury President Ali Brown, Partner and Executive Producer at PRETTYBIRD, Los Angeles, says: “The actual judging process has been an incredible experience. My own jury represents 7 different countries and cultural viewpoints, so there are truly diverse perspectives. But what’s incredible was to see how aligned we all were – proving that great work is great work. Quality is universal. Craftsmanship is universal. And seeing that in action is beyond inspiring. The support and kindness of those working with the festival and volunteering to run the judging rooms is unparalleled. The experience has been memorable not only for what the festival stands for, but who stands with it.”

评委合影

Thanks to everyone who made ADFEST 2019 one to remember – see you next year!