AdFest 2011: Outdoor, Cyber, Direct, Promo, Design, Print Craft, Film Craft & New Director winners announced last night

The winners of the Outdoor, Cyber, Direct, Promo, Design, Film Craft and New Director Lotus were announced at the end of the second day at the 14th Asia Pacific Advertising Festival (ADFEST), held at Mövenpick Resort & Spa, in Phuket, Thailand.

“The general feeling amongst each Jury panel seemed to be that standards from year to year have evolved so quickly in this region. What won Gold, Silver or Bronze at previous ADFEST festivals might only be shortlisted today, which shows how fast creative standards have risen,” says ADFEST President Jimmy Lam.

OUTDOOR LOTUS

This year, out of 244 entries for Outdoor Lotus, 17 awards were presented including 3 Gold, 7 Silvers and 6 Bronzes, plus one Best of Show. The Best of Show went to DDB China Group, Shanghai for ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing’ China Environmental Protection Foundation. Work for the same campaign from the agency also won Gold in the category for External Street Signs/Street Furniture. The remaining two Golds went to DDB Singapore for ‘Coin Landscapes’ Rough Guide Budget Travel Guide; and Cheil Worldwide Seoul for ‘Express Train’ Super Sticky Post-it.

“The Outdoor Jury agreed unanimously on the Best of Show. Everyone was very much amazed by this piece of work, particularly that pedestrians were part of the creation – they actually played a role in the creation of the poster and help deliver the intent of the message,” says Sheung Yan Lo, Executive Creative Director, North East Asia and Chairman, JWT China. 

He said the cultural diversity of the winning work was excellent. “Now with festivals like ADFEST, people are being exposed to work from around the world where they see the best minds in the business. So we are all at the same starting line in terms of what we can deliver today, no matter where we are from. How far we can go creatively depends on budgets within each market and the mentality of our clients.”

CYBER LOTUS

Out of 274 Cyber entries, 35 Lotus Awards were presented including 4 Golds, 7 Silvers, 6 Bronzes and One Best of Show. Masashi & Qanta & Saqoosha & Hiroki Tokyo won Best of Show in the Best Use of Social Media category for its Utsushi Kagami’ (Mirror) promotion. The work also won a Gold Lotus for ‘Best Use of Technology’. The other three Gold Cyber Lotus Awards went to McCann Worldgroup (Hong Kong) for ‘Real Life Betting’, Dim Sum Television; Bascule Inc. Tokyo for its Axe ‘Summer Daydream’ and Taiyo Kikaku Co.,Ltd. For Nike Music Shoe.

“The Cyber Jury noticed the big influence of social networking – most campaigns had some form of social connection. Today it seems ‘Cyber’ is not only interactive; it is also connected to social networks. If there is no connection, it is very hard to win an award,” says Satoshi Takamatsu, Jury President of Cyber and Chief Creative Director /Founder of GROUND in Tokyo, explaining this year’s winners.

The Best of Show winner, Masashi & Qanta & Saqoosha & Hiroki Tokyo, created a promotional video that “was not a promotional video in the conventional sense” as viewers could customize their experience according to their social networks and geolocation.

“It shows entertainment today can be customized to an individual and connected to a network. The creators also asked consumers to make web donations to finish their idea, which was a fundamentally new approach,” he says.

FILM CRAFT LOTUS

From 136 entries, there were 5 Gold, 13 Silvers and 12 Bronze Lotus Awards presented in the Film Craft category. No Best of Show is awarded for Craft categories.

Four of the five Golds handed out on the night went to Australasia: Gold was awarded to Steve Ayson from The Sweet Shop, Auckland for NZ Lotteries ‘Lucky Dog’ via DDB New Zealand in the Directing category, Gold went to Nathan Price at Capital City Films in the Directing (campaign) category for Sky TV ‘Leaf Blower’, ‘Ride on Mower’ via DDB New Zealand, Gold was awarded to The Feds, Sydney for Optus ‘FIFA World Cup Secret Training Camp’ via M&C Saatchi Sydney in the Special Effects category and Gold went to singer Ben Lee for his music on the WWF ‘Space Monkey’ spot via Leo Burnett Sydney.

The other Gold was for Ogilvy & Mather Group, Hong Kong for ‘It’s in our Nature’ for Shangri-la Hotels and Resorts.

NEW DIRECTOR LOTUS

This year, there were only three entries to the New Director category, which were awarded1Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Commendation. The Gold Lotus went to TYO Inc. Monster Division for ‘Dad’s Love’, Sunshine Sakae. Ram Madhvani, Director and Partner at Equinox Films in Mumbai, was Jury President of this year’s Film Craft and New Director Lotus categories.

“We thought the quality of the New Director entries were better than most of the directors in the Film Craft category. There were not enough of them, but the ones that were there, I’d like to hire them,” says Madhvani.

Regarding the Film Craft winners, he said: “We have awarded quite a few medals but most of the winning work is good, classical work. I didn’t find too much on the innovation front. The Jury was also very wary of universal jokes in films because they created an atmosphere of camaraderie in the judging room, and that was the reason we remembered them – not necessarily for their crafting,” says Madhvani, explaining this year’s judging criteria.

SPEAKER SESSIONS

Yesterday AdFest held the first of two Fabulous Four screenings this year, presented by George Mackenzie, Managing Director of The Sweet Shop in Sydney. ADFEST invited the Fabulous Four 2010 directors to attend this year’s Festival following the cancellation of last year’s event. Today, the Fabulous Four 2011 Directors will also premiere their short films at 11am. Other highlights today include the ‘Magnificent 7 Jury Presidents Crossfire’; D&AD President Simon Sankarayya and Washington Olivetto, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at WMcCann in Sao Paolo, who is this year’s Grand Jury President.

VIEW THE LIST OF WINNERS – Outdoor, Cyber, Direct, Promo, Design, Print Craft, Film Craft and New Director Lotus.