AdFest: Radio, Film, Promo, Effective, Media, Branded Content & Entertainment, Integrated, Innova Lotus, Lotus Roots + Special awards – Leo Burnett Sydney wins Promo Grande for Samsung; JWT Sydney wins Grande for Humanity Award

The 18th AdFest wrapped up this year’s three-day Festival with an Awards Presentation at PEACH, Royal Cliff Hotels Group tonight in Pattaya, Thailand. 1,110 delegates from 53 cities in total attended the event and drank in the line-up of international speakers and the huge exhibition of 3,295 entries across 18 awards categories.

The final awards presentation tonight announced Radio, Film, Promo, Effective, Media, Branded Content & Entertainment, Integrated, Innova Lotus, Lotus Roots and Special awards.

A highlight of the night for Australia was the Promo Grande awarded to Leo Burnett, Sydney for its S-Drive work for Best Integrated Promo Campaign. The work for S-Drive also won Gold in Best Use of Other Digital Media. Both contributed to Leo Burnett being named Adfest Network of the Year. The other was when JWT Sydney took out the Lotus Grande for Humanity Award for its Breast Cancer ‘I Touch Myself Project’.

Dentsu Inc, Tokyo was named Adfest Agency of the Year and Interactive Agency of the Year, Whybin\TBWA Melbourne won Direct & Promo Agency of the Year, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation was named Production Company of the Year and Suntory was awarded Advertiser of the Year.

Rei Inamoto, Chief Creative Officer for AKQA, Global was presiding as Grand Jury President over Interactive and Mobile Lotus as well as Integrated, INNOVA Lotus and Lotus Roots.

Says Inamoto: “When you see this year’s Lotus winners you will witness work that is pushing our industry forward. The era of advertising as an awareness-building industry is over. Our role is now much bigger. What solutions are we providing? What actions are we encouraging people to take? All the judges at AdFest this year made an effort to reward work that is making a contribution to brands, to customers and to society at large.”

Radio Lotus

This year there were 91 entries for Radio Lotus. Three awards were announced, including 1 Bronze and 2 Silver Lotus.The Silver awards went to Leo Burnett Sydney for Bundaberg Rum ‘Men Like Us Like: Polar Bear/Tasting/Brave’ and Impact BBDO Dubai for Travel Insurance ‘Lebeau/Pedro/Timmy’.

Says Jury President Bechara Mouzannar, Chief Creative Officer for Leo Burnett MENA, Beirut: “The radio campaigns we heard at ADFEST this year were not as insightful as the films we judged, I would have liked to see more rigorous and insightful work entered into this category.”

Film Lotus

Film Lotus is still the most popular category to enter and this year there were 470 entries for the category. 26 awards were announced, including 12 Bronze, 12 Silver and 2 Gold. There was no Grande awarded for the Film category.

The two Gold awards were won by Wase-Be Advertising Inc. Tokyo for Freshly Ground Coffee with the Creamiest Milk ‘Farewell’ and Lowe China, Shanghai for Buick ‘Human Traffic Sign’.

Says Film Jury President Bechara Mouzannar, Chief Creative Officer for Leo Burnett MENA, Beirut: “The Film Lotus Jury was fairly unanimous in terms of the films that should be awarded this year. However, having judged this category at AdFest last year, I feel the overall quality was a step backwards from last year. That said, there is a wonderful history of storytelling in Asia, and the films that did win a Film Lotus this year were really different and told in an exciting way.”

Promo Lotus

The Promo category attracted 252 entries in 2015. 28 awards were given out in total, which included 1 Grande, 8 Gold, 12 Silver and 7 Bronze Lotus awards.

The Grande was presented to Leo Burnett, Sydney for its S-Drive work in Best Integrated Promo Campaign. The work for S-Drive also won Gold in Best Use of Other Digital Media.

Leo Burnett agencies won another three of the eight Golds, including: Two Golds for Leo Burnett Hong Kong for The Salvation Army/Crown Relocations ‘Gift Box’ in Ambient Promotion: Small Scale and in Sponsorship/Partnership Campaign. And one Gold for Leo Burnett Melbourne for Slurpee ‘Slurpee Xpandinator’ in Best Use of Merchandising/In-Store Marketing incl. Promotional Packaging

Says Jury president, Charles Cadell, Asia Pacific President of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, Singapore: “We saw a lot of use of cool technology in this category. But in most cases, the uses were forced. The jury found that the best pieces were simple. In these cases, technology was a tool that seamlessly supported an idea, rather than being an idea. As a result, the most lauded ideas were best-in-class, not only regionally, but also globally.”

Whybin/TBWA Melbourne also won Gold for ANZ Bank ‘ANZ GAYTMS’ in Event & Field Marketing; BBDO Proximity Thailand, Bangkok for Thairath TV ‘Blind Taste’ in Best Use of TV or Radio; Tokyu Agency Inc., Tokyo for Expanded LTE Network ‘3 Seconds Cooking Shrimp Frying Cannon’ in Best Use of Internet/Online Advertising; JWT Singapore for CABCY ‘Share it to End it’ in Best Use of Social Media

Effective Lotus

The Effective Lotus is still a relatively new category at AdFest and attracted 48 entries in all. Entries must show results achieved against the strategy as well as the creative work and are judged on all three criteria.

7 trophies were given out in total, which included 1 Grande and 6 Effective Lotus awards.

The Grande was presented to BBDO Guerrero, Manila for its ‘Labels Against Women’ work for Pantene.

Jury president, Charles Cadell, Asia Pacific President of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, Singapore said, “Too often we saw campaigns entered into this category for speculative work created for NGOs and charities. It seems scam ads in our industry used to be about making an ad for the local bike shop. Now, in the digital age, it’s about going to charities and promising them a wonderful idea, and then as soon as that idea wins an award, the agency loses interest in the charity. If you’re going to do charity work for awards, make it meaningful. Otherwise it’s morally corrupt. The work we awarded in this category was genuinely effective and created for genuine clients.”

There were 3 Effective Lotus awards given in the Campaign Success category for: McCann Melbourne for L’Oreal Paris ‘The Winged Eye’; BBDO Proximity Thailand, Bangkok for Thairath TV ‘Blind Taste’ and Leo Burnett Melbourne for Slurpee ‘Slurpee Xpandinator’

The other three Effective Lotus were given in the Small Budget category and were for:

Tokyu Agency Inc., Tokyo for Expanded LTE Network ‘3 Seconds Cooking Shrimp Frying Cannon

Leo Burnett Melbourne for SPC ‘#SPCSunday’

Media Lotus

Media Lotus received 205 entries. There were 25 awards given in the category, including 5 Gold, 9 Silver and 11 Bronze. There was no Grande Lotus awarded in the Media category.

Three Gold awards were presented to Whybin/TBWA Melbourne for ANZ Bank ‘ANZ GAYTMS’; one in Best Use of Outdoor and Transit, another in Best Use of Ambient: Large Scale and one in Best Use of Experiential/Guerrila Marketing.

The other two Golds were given to: Cheil Pengtai, Beijing for Taikang Accident Insurance ‘A Taikang Moment’ in Best Use of Mobile and Leo Burnet Sydney for its S-Drive work in Best Integrated Media Campaign

Says Jury president, Mitsuyuki Nakayama, President of Dentsu Media Southeast Asia and CEO of Dentsu Media (Thailand): “Media is such a diverse category. Everything can be a medium now. But what it takes to succeed in any of these media subcategories is the same. You need to be able to use the medium to connect the brand to the consumer in a relevant way. The top awarded work in the Media Lotus category succeeded in doing so in bold new ways. They were some of the bravest, smartest pieces of media communication we’ve seen not just in the region, but also in the world.”

Branded Content & Entertainment Lotus

Branded Content and Entertainment Lotus is a new category this year and 97 entries were counted. There were 6 awards given in the category, including 1 Grande and 5 Branded Content Lotus.

The Grande for Branded Content and Entertainment was awarded to Tokyu Agency Inc., Tokyo for ‘ExpandedLTE Network ‘3 Seconds Cooking Shrimp Frying Cannon’ in Best Use of Interactive and Social Media.

Nakayama said, “This is a new category for AdFest, so the jury set out to clearly define what makes for good branded content and entertainment. Good branded content and entertainment pieces have to be entertaining and engaging in their own right, even if the brand wasn’t prominently featured. After all, this isn’t the Film Lotus category. Results are just as important in this category. The best pieces in this category were not just immensely entertaining to watch, but also brought viewers closer to the brand.”

The Branded Content & Entertainment Lotus trophies went to: BBDO Proximity Thailand, Bangkok for Thairath TV ‘Blind Taste’ in Best Use of Non-Fiction Film; Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for National Stadium ‘Future Ticket’ in Best Use of Experiential; TBWA Hakuhodo, Tokyo for Suntory Whisky ‘3D On the Rocks’ in Best Use of Experiential; Leo Burnett Group Thailand, Bangkok for Tourism Authority of Thailand ‘I Hate Thailand’ in Best use of Social & Interactive Media’; and McCann Melbourne for Tiger Air ‘Tiger Air – Infrequent Flyers Club’ in Best Integrated Campaign

Integrated Lotus

From 23 entries in the Integrated category, there were 3 Integrated Lotus trophies awarded but no Grande for the category.

The three Integrated Lotus awards were given out to: Leo Burnett Beirut for Sakker El Dekkene (Stop the Shop) ‘Lebanon4Sale’; Leo Burnett Sydney for its S-Drive work and JWT Sydney for Breast Cancer ‘I Touch Myself Project’.

Says Grand Jury President Rei Inamoto: “What’s interesting is that the more media channels diversify, the more overlap we are seeing between categories. This year’s Integrated winners utilized media channels in innovative, targeted ways and they are all ideas that are contributing to society in thoughtful ways.”

INNOVA Lotus

AdFest’s INNOVA Lotus Award is given for outstanding innovation ideas for communication. The category received 32 entries this year. There were four awards given out, including one Grande and three INNOVA Lotus.

Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo won the Grande award for Suntory Whisky Hibiki ‘Hibiki Glass’

The INNOVA Lotus awards were presented to: Cheil China, Beijing for Aershan Mineral Water ‘Signature Bottle’; AKQA Shanghai for Nike ‘Nike House of Mamba’ and Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Red B.A. ‘Call Her Name’.

Inamoto explained the reasons for selecting INNOVA Lotus winners: “The best ideas in this category demonstrated an unexpected solution to an expected problem. The winners delivered their radical solutions either by harnessing technology in a new, relevant and seamless way, or by using a bold new angle to something that’s already out there.”

Lotus Roots

The Lotus Roots category recognizes and encourages great ideas inspired by local beliefs and values and by the diversity of cultures represented at AdFest every year.

From 122 entries, there was one Grande and five Lotus Roots awards.

Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo scooped another award for Suntory Whisky Hibiki ‘Hibiki Glass’ when it picked up the Grande Lotus Roots AdFest 2015.

Inamoto said: “I was pleasantly surprised to see a large number of finalists in this category, which is all about preserving, promoting and celebrating the cultural uniqueness of each country. The winning work is distinctively inspired by the cultures in which they originate, which makes Lotus Roots a really interesting awards category.”

The Lotus Roots awards were won by: JWT India, Mumbai for Nike Cricket ‘Make Every Yard Count’; Yomiko Advertising Inc., Tokyo for Nebuta Style “Kakera” ‘Nebuta Aid Light’; Geometry Global, Mumbai for Lifebuoy ‘Roti – The Unlikely reminder’; Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Red B.A. for ‘Call her Name’ and Whybin/TBWA Melbourne for ANZ Bank ‘ANZ GAYTMS’.

Lotus Grande for Humanity

A Lotus Grande for Humanity Award was awarded to JWT Sydney in recognition for the pro-bono work it entered in the Branded Content and Entertainment category for Breast Cancer ‘I Touch Myself Project’.

Fabulous Four

Four new directors debute
d their short films to the AdFest delegates today. Each was based on the event’s theme, “Be Bad” and were shown in a session moderated by Michael Hilliard, Jury President of the Film Craft and New Director categories at AdFest 2015, and Executive Producer at Finch in Sydney.

The 2015 Fabulous Four are Anya Nicola Isabel Zulueta, Go Motion Productions, Manila; Hiroki Odagiri, T&E Inc., Fukuoka; Pranav Harihar Sharma, Film Farm India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai and Tomoya Kuge, TYO Camp KAZ, Tokyo.

Young Lotus

Abigail Montana and Margarita Salvador were this year’s winning Young Lotus team from Lowe Philippines, Manila. Finalists were from Bangkok, Colombo, Jakarta and Singapore.

The AdFest Delegate’s Choice award, was also won by Abigail Montana & Margarita Salvador from Lowe Philippines, Manila, as voted by delegates following the ‘Young Lotus 2015 Fresh Blood’, moderated by Dentsu Aegis Network.

Jimmy Lam, President for AdFest summed up: “We have been fortunate to assemble 56 juries of such high calibre and from very diversified cultural backgrounds. Under the theme “Be Bad”, this year’s juries worked very hard to scrutinise every entry. They were determined and successfully awarded those entries that broke down the usual to become unusual and that set the bar higher for the future of marketing communication creativity. They were also extra sensitive to entries that preserved, promoted and celebrated local cultures that are relevant to brands in individual markets. This is unique to ADFEST’s Lotus Awards and is something that we continue to nurture and encourage.”