With almost 800 delegates from 44 cities, 63 jurors and 1,700 entries, ADFEST 2023 made the real thing happen

BY THE HAMMER

Last week, I visited AdFest after 7 years and it was immediately obvious there is a welcoming warmth about their hospitality. I will say it, before Kim Shaw does, “It’s like going to a friend’s home.”

One dear friend who was missing of course was the late Jimmy Lam, co-founder of the AdFest, and that was all the more reason for me to go.

Just like Cannes Lions, I noticed there was a lot of hugging going on.

Well, in Cannes one travels half way around the world to get there, and here it was COVID that set us back almost 3 years. But there were enough hugs to go around for all. Friends from virtually all corners of the globe, apart from the hugs, wanted to see the great award-winning work on display at the PEACH Exhibition Centre.

Here are the Grande and Gold winners….

DESIGN LOTUS

Two Gold awards were presented to Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for D&AD 2021 Exhibition in Japan “Beautiful Mutations” and The Hoshi Awards “Endless Appetite”.

Gold winners: Suntory Holdings, Osaka/(Tsuzuku)/Dentsu Inc./Dentsu Creative x Inc., Tokyo for “Suntory Tennensui Endless Dawn” and Hakuhodo Kettle Inc./Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Kiyasuku “Easy to Wear, Just for You”, Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyo for Shizuoka City “The Model City 1:1 Scale” and VMLY&R, Mumbai for Maxx Flash “The Killer Pack”.

BRAND EXPERIENCE LOTUS

Gold winners: Impact BBDO Dubai for Annahar Newspaper “The Elections Edition”, TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd. “Propilot MOP”.

DIRECT LOTUS

Leo Burnett Group, Manila won two Gold awards for its work on McDonald’s “Unbranded Menu”, while the third Gold award went to Le Pub APAC, Singapore for Tiger Beer “Tiger Beer – 22:31”

MEDIA LOTUS

TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd “Propilot MOP”

Cheil Worldwide, Seoul for A Silent Emergency Call “Knock Knock”

Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Toyota Mobility Foundation “Voice Watch”

PR LOTUS

Gold winners: Innocean, Seoul for Hyundai Motor Group “Hydrogen Garbage Truck” and Havas Middle East, Dubai for Adidas “Adidas SuperstarRavi’s”.

PRINT & OUTDOOR CRAFT LOTUS

Leo Burnett India/Mondelez International Foods Pvt Ltd., Mumbai was elected as winner of a Gold Award and the Grande Award for work on Oreo India titled, “#BringBack2011”

Dentsu Tokyo Inc. won Gold for its work on D&AD 2021 Exhibition in Japan “Beautiful Mutations”.

DIGITAL AND SOCIAL LOTUS

The Grande was awarded to MullenLowe Singapore for Closeup “City Hall of Love”.

Three Gold winners: Rabbit’s Tale, Bangkok for Five Star Chicken “Five Star: Quality Time, Again”, Puyoringo Project/Dentsu East Japan, Tokyo for Admori Apple “Puyoringo – Game of Apple Tennis” and TBWA\Sydney, Sydney for Consent Labs “Classify Consent”.

DIGITAL CRAFT LOTUS

The Grande was awarded to Serviceplan Korea/Germany, Seoul and Munich for DOT “DOT PAD. The first Smart Tactile Graphics Display”.

Gold winners: Choojai & Friends, Bangkok for Sammakorn “The Broken Home” and Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Toyota Mobility Foundation “Voice Watch”

MOBILE LOTUS

Cheil Hong Kong, Hong Kong / Cheil Pentai Beijing, Beijing for Samsung “Quest for Dyslexia”

Leo Burnett Taiwan, Taipei for McDonald’s “Donation Wallpaper”

Cheil Worldwide, Seoul for A Silent Emergency Call “Knock Knock”

FILM CRAFT LOTUS

Ogilvy Group Thailand, Bangkok for Dutchie “Love Your Gut”

Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Pocari Sweat “You Don’t Need Wings to Fly”

OUTDOOR LOTUS

Silver went to Wunderman Thompson Thailand for Netflix TH “The Eyeballs Heist”.

Rahul Mathew, Chief Creative Officer for DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai and Jury President for Outdoor Lotus expanded.

PRESS LOTUS

The Grande was won by Impact BBDO Dubai, from Dubai for Annahar Newspaper “The Elections Edition”.

Rahul Mathew, Chief Creative Officer for DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai and Jury President for Press Lotus said, “The work that won the Grande [Annahar Newspaper] was no surprise at all. It just quietly walked in, owned the Grande and walked out [of the jury room].”

FILM LOTUS

The two Gold awards were both won by Ogilvy Group Thailand, Bangkok for Voiz “The Eyes / Left & Right / The Battle / Contact Lens”

EFFECTIVE LOTUS

Gold winners: MullenLowe Singapore, Singapore for ISEE “Leave with Pride”, BBDO India PVT Ltd., Mumbai for Ariel “See Equal #sharetheload”.

ENTERTAINMENT LOTUS

The Grande was won by Leo Burnett Australia, Sydney for Bundaberg Rum “Bundy Mixer”.

The Gold award went to TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.“Propilot Mop”

INNOVA LOTUS

Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Toyota Mobility Foundation “Voice Watch”

Serviceplan Korea, Seoul / Serviceplan Germany, Munich for DOT “Dot Pad. The First Smart Tactile Graphics Display”

TBWA Sydney, Sydney for Consent Labs “Classify Consent”

VMLY&R, Mumbai for Maxx Flash “The Killer Pack”

LOTUS ROOTS

Lotus Roots Grande went to Impact BBDO Dubai, Dubai for Annahar Newspaper “The Elections Edition”.

Lotus Roots awards winners:

TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Shanghai / Media Arts Lab Shanghai for Apple “The Comeback – Shot on iPhone”.

TBWA\Juice China, Beijing / TBWA\China, Shanghai for BMW “BMW: Nothing But Sheer Joy”.

Dentsu Tokyo Inc., / Material, Tokyo for Zone Energy “Invisible Zone”.

MALAYSIANS ON JURY DUTY:

Ong Shi Ping (CCO, FCB SHOUT KL) – Design and Print & Outdoor Craft

Gigi Lee (Klinik Gigi) – Film, Outdoor, Press and Radio & Audio

Rajay Singh (Directors Think Tank) – Film Craft & New Director

Ogilvy Malaysia did us proud by winning Silver and Bronze in Direct Lotus for client Cadbury’s ‘Flags of Generosity’ campaign, while Reserve Tank KL won Silver (Directing) and Bronze (Music) for Biskuat in Film Craft.

I am also happy to add that Malaysian Chow Kok Keong, Chief Creative Officer of INNOCEAN Indonesia, picked up a Silver (Digital Craft: Innovative Use of Tech) and Bronze (Entertainment: Digital & Emerging Tech) for the “Anti- Hate Keyboard” campaign.

All winners at www.ADFEST.com