AdStars’ US$10,000 cash Grand Prix prizes go to Tokyu Japan and Publicis Indonesia
Every year the AdStars Festival in Busan awards two cash prizes of $10,000 each to go with their Grand Prix awards. This year the two Grand Prix winners were Tokyu Japan and Publicis Indonesia.
Tokyu won in the product and services category for their “Japan World Cup” integrated campaign for the Japan Racing and Livestock Promotion Foundation, which raised the appeal of horse racing to the youth of Japan. Publicis scooped the Public Service Grand Prix for their JATAM “Mud Flow” campaign that raised the continued plight of the Sidoarjo mud-flow tragedy directly to the Indonesian President four years after the event.
Maulana Sagala, the creative director of Publicis Indonesia was present to receive the award: “It is a great honor for me to receive this recognition from Neil French, one of Asia’s advertising gurus and the chair of judges at AD STARS 2011. We’ll donate the entire prize of USD10,000 to the victims in the region.”
Alejandro Ortiz Creative Director at Casanova Pendrill USA said there were a good number of excellent PSA works among the submitted entries this year. “However, the most superior among them that deserves the Grand Prix was the PSA work, ‘Mud-Flow’, which was submitted from Indonesia. This work is a PSA to enhance awareness of the mudflow disaster in Indonesia 4 or 5 years ago. This ad was placed in front of the Indonesia Presidential Palace and drew lots of attention from media. It also helped people commemorate the anniversary of mud-flow tragedy. Furthermore, it played a role in supporting the recovery, letting the government know about conditions in the damaged region.”
Commenting on the Japan World Cup Grand Prix OgilvyOne India ECD, Graham Kelly said: “This idae was designed based on a website using a friendly approach toward young Japanese people who are not interested in horse racing. It started with a great idea and was a well-produced piece equipped with all the necessary elements of a prize-winning work. In order to win the Gold in the category, you have to show excellence in both your idea and production. In light of this point, this work carries two important elements. I was able to tell that they had invested a lot of time, maybe more than average, in creating this work. The website was effective and creative. Therefore, it turned out to be an excellent work encompassing all the elements.”