JWT’s Samsonite continues awards haul with AdFest Press Grand Prix; DDB China scoop Outdoor Grand Prix again

The winners of the Press, Outdoor, Direct, Promo, New Director and Film Craft Lotus were announced at the end of the second day at the 15th AdFest, held in Pattaya, Thailand.

Press Lotus

From 335 entries in the Press category, there were 46 Lotus trophies awarded including one Best of Show, 24 Bronzes and 20 Silvers – but only 1 Gold Award. Best of Show for the Press category went to JWT Shanghai for Samsonite ‘Heaven and Hell’ in the Fashion and Cosmetics category. The only Gold Lotus was awarded to Ogilvy Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur for Pictionary ‘Quick Draw Wins’ campaign in ‘Entertainment, Recreation and Leisure’ category.

Chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup India in Mumbai, Prasoon Joshi, Jury President for Press commented, “For this year’s Press Lotus category entries, a recurring trend was the use of illustration and a return to this craft-driven medium.” He also noted, “With the continual advent of new technology, we are today witnessing many press ads that include visual effects and manipulated imagery that once were not possible, allowing creatives’ imagination to run free like never before.”

Outdoor Lotus

This year, out of 592 entries for Outdoor Lotus (which is the largest category as this year it has absorbed the Poster Category), 53 awards were presented including 5 Gold, 19 Silvers and 29 Bronzes, plus one Best of Show.

For the second year in a row, DDB China Group, Shanghai scooped the Outdoor Lotus Best of Show. This year it was for Family Care for Grassroots Community ‘The Keyboard of Isolation‘.

Merlee Jayme, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer at DM9 JaymeSyfu, Manila, Jury President of Outdoor explained, “We chose the winner of Best in Show because it was a very very relevant insight.  It talks about how in the age of technology with all these laptops, actually we have isolated ourselves from each other.  The irony of it was that we have mobile phones to connect, but for example during dinner time, people are on their phones not minding the real people around them, and are increasingly isolated without knowing or being conscious about it.  These technologies have actually moved us away from the warmth of our family and home.”  

5 Gold trophies were handed out in the Outdoor category to McCann Worldgroup India, Mumbai for Hard Rock Café ‘Blind Car’, Leo Burnett Group Thailand, Bangkok for its campaign for Canon Corporate Branding entitled, ‘Photofighters #1/#2/#3/#4’, JWT Shanghai for Samsonite ‘Heaven and Hell’, Ogilvy Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur for ‘Lego’ and DDB Group Hong Kong for its campaign for Westone ‘ ‘Mozart/Beethoven/Tchaikovsky’.