ADFEST has unveiled the winners of the ADFEST 2021 Lotus Awards, at an online ceremony on Thursday 8th April 2021.
With 62 jurors, the judging process was guided by Grand Jury President Judy John, Global Chief Creative Officer at Edelman, Toronto.
Jimmy Lam, President of ADFEST, said: “We would like to thank everyone who entered ADFEST 2021 in spite of the challenges we faced as an industry last year. We thank you for sharing your ideas with the world and for showing how in dark times, the most innovative creative ideas shine bright.”
ADFEST’s highest accolade is the ‘Grande’ trophy, with 4 Grande winners awarded this year :
• Direct Lotus Grande: Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok for Thai Airways’ ‘Stay Home Miles Exchange’
• Film Lotus Grande: Wolf BKK, Bangkok for Central Midnight Sale ‘Shop Unfriend’, with production by Factory01, Bangkok
• Media Lotus Grande: TBWA, Sydney for ‘Play NZ’ created for Tourism New Zealand with Mindshare, Sydney
• Grande for Humanity: ‘Bonds Out Now’ for Bonds, by Leo Burnett Melbourne
John Koay, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy Hong Kong, judged Design Lotus and Print & Outdoor Craft Lotus. He said: “2021 was hard for everyone and not just people in the creative industry. However, these winning pieces of work remind us that no matter how difficult it is, design and creativity can defy all odds and inspire us to have fun and do things differently with a twist in our everyday lives.”
Abhinav Tripathi, Executive Creative Director at McCann Worldgroup India, joined the Audio Lotus, Film Lotus, Outdoor Lotus & Press Lotus jury. He commented: “I think one of things we celebrated along with creativity was resilience. We were all amazed by the quality of the work we were seeing. Which really is a testament to our industry’s hard work and determination.”
AUDIO LOTUS
There were no Grande, Gold, Silver or Bronze awarded in the Audio Lotus category.
BRAND EXPERIENCE LOTUS
There are 1 Gold, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze Lotus winners in the Brand Experience category.
Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok has won the Gold for the Thai Airways ‘Stay Home Miles Exchange’ campaign.
BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT LOTUS
In Branded Entertainment Lotus, there are 3 Silver and 5 Bronze Lotus winners, plus two finalists.
DESIGN LOTUS
There are 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze winners in the Design Lotus category.
The Gold went to Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.’s ‘Pocky the Gift’.
“Everyone knows and loves Pocky. It’s an iconic product. And it’s very difficult to redesign the packaging of something that’s so well recognized. But Pocky was able to create a new look that was minimalist, modern, and playful yet still 100% Pocky. Plus, the new packaging is just cute AF,” said Jameilee Que, Creative Director at BBDO Guerrero, Manila.
DIGITAL CRAFT LOTUS
This year, there was no Gold or Silver winners; only 4 Bronze winners in Digital Craft Lotus.
DIGITAL LOTUS
There are 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze Lotus award winners in Digital Lotus.
The Gold winners are:
• Taproot Dentsu, Mumbai: Facebook ‘Pooja Didi’
• Innocean Worldwide, Seoul: Young Chemical / Facebook Korea, ‘The Cheering Bandage’. This campaign also won 1 Silver trophy in this category
“Both of these campaigns showed us that in such a difficult period, people’s desire to do good for others was more effective and heart-warming,” says Kalpesh Patankar, Chief Creative Officer MENA, VMLY&R Dubai and Jury President of Digital Lotus, Digital Craft Lotus & Mobile Lotus.
“As a group, we were looking for ideas that sympathize with what we all face as humanity together. The winning campaigns use empathy, diversity and human-centric technology, showing us that creativity can really help people and also that bold ideas can make the power of the brand even more powerful.”
DIRECT LOTUS
There are 1 Grande, 1 Gold and 1 Bronze in the Direct Lotus category.
Congratulations to Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok, which won the Grande trophy for Thai Airways’ ‘Stay Home Miles Exchange’ along with one Gold trophy. This campaign was entered into the ‘Resilience in Creativity’ sub-category, which celebrates ideas that demonstrate the strength of the human spirit in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
eCOMMERCE LOTUS
There was only 2 Silver Lotus winners in this category.
EFFECTIVE LOTUS
There are 3 Gold awards, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze in Effective Lotus.
The Gold winners are:
• Grey Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur: WWF, ‘Your Plastic Diet’, which won 2 Golds
• Dentsu Inc., Tokyo: Kura Sushi, Inc., ‘Tuna Scope 2020’
“By showing people how much plastic we eat, it compelled them to sign one of the fastest and largest petitions ever created in WWF history. Tuna Scope goes beyond clicks and likes – it was an amazing piece of work where innovation combined with creativity delivered simple yet brilliant work that still and will be used for years to help businesses,” said Baris Gencel, Creative Director, Brand Consultant, Creative Digital & Technology, Shanghai.
FILM CRAFT LOTUS
This year, there are 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 15 Bronze awards in Film Craft Lotus.
The Gold winners are:
• Wolf BKK, Bangkok: Central Midnight Sale ‘Shop Unfriend’, with production by Factory01, Bangkok
• Taiyo Kikaku Co., Ltd., Tokyo: Toagosei Co. Ltd.’s Aron Alpha ‘Too Short for TV Ads campaign’ created for Yomiko Advertising Inc., Tokyo
• Squeak E. Clean Studios, Sydney: Facebook ‘Facebook Kazoo’ for Wieden + Kennedy Portland
“All winners show that taking smart humor to the next level, even if it borders on something somewhat absurd, actually helps a great deal to stand out and get a message across. A great creative concept is one thing, but to push it to its extremes in its craft and execution, makes all the difference,” said Diederik van Middelkoop, Executive Creative Director at
Amp.Amsterdam.
“My absolute favourite was the ‘Too Short for TV Ads campaign’. I feel they are like a breath of fresh air amidst a lot of serious and long-format content. The ads that make up the campaign are original, short, daring, unexpected, delightful and mildly absurd. They are perfect, really.”
FILM LOTUS
In the Film Lotus category, there were 1 Grande, 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze awarded.
The Grande winner went to Wolf BKK, Bangkok for Central Midnight Sale ‘Shop Unfriend’, with production by Factory01, Bangkok.
“We often use the word ‘clutter-breaking’ in our industry. But I feel this time, this film truly deserves that title. It stands out in so many ways. It’s either a fashion film that uses humor really well, or it’s a funny film that’s incredibly fashionable. Either ways, it breaks multiple stereotypes while being able to deliver its message very effectively,” said Abhinav Tripathi, Executive Creative Director at McCann Worldgroup India.
Brandie Tan, Executive Creative Director at Wunderman Thompson Philippines, Manila, agrees: “’Shop Unfriend’ was probably the freshest story out of all the films we saw. When the friend drives away with half of the car you think it’s the end of the story but, it’s not. This makes the film unexpected, funny and worth watching over and over.”
The Sour Bangkok Co. Ltd., Bangkok won Gold for ‘Maepranom’, created for Phiboonchai Maepranom Thai Chilli Paste Co., Ltd., with production by Phenomena Co., Ltd., Bangkok.
INNOVA LOTUS
The “Magnificent Seven” Jury Presidents, headed by Judy John, Global Chief Creative Officer at Edelman, Toronto, judged the INNOVA Lotus, Lotus Roots, and Grande for Humanity.
The INNOVA Lotus category rewards genuine innovation, talk-value and results and tho shear the award went to Cheil Worldwide, Seoul for Emart’s ‘Light Saver’. Cheil Worldwide is the sole INNOVA Lotus winner at ADFEST 2021.
LOTUS ROOTS
Unique to ADFEST, the Lotus Roots category celebrates ideas that embody local values whether in terms of culture, religion, beliefs, traditions, or language.
There were 2 Lotus Roots winners at ADFEST 2021:
• Fact, Tokyo: ‘Pillows are for fighting’ – Ito City’s City Promotion
• FINCH, Sydney: Spark’s ‘Kupu Tell Your Story’ created for Colenso BBDO Auckland
MEDIA LOTUS
In the Media Lotus category, there were 1 Grande, 2 Gold, 4 Silver, and 2 Bronze awarded.
The Grande winner was TBWA, Sydney for ‘Play NZ’ created for Tourism New Zealand with Mindshare, Sydney.
And the two Gold winners were:
• Leo Burnett, Melbourne : Bonds ‘Bonds Out Now’ with media by OMD Sydney
• United Communciation Group/Uni-Surf Digital Marketing, Taipei: Heng Leong Hang Co. Ltd (Braun) ‘Braun X Formosa Chang’.
MOBILE LOTUS
In Mobile Lotus, there are 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze awards.
The Gold winner went also to Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok, for Thai Airways, ‘Stay Home Miles Exchange’. The agency also won 1 Silver award for the same campaign.
“Thai Airways helped reinforce the brand at a time when nobody was flying. It showed how something negative can become a strength by rewarding people for staying home. Creativity when applied right inspires and moves us all,” explains Jury President Kalpesh Patankar, Chief Creative Officer MENA, VMLY&R Dubai.
NEW DIRECTOR LOTUS
In the New Director Lotus category, there is 1 Silver award, and 1 Bronze award.
OUTDOOR LOTUS
In the Outdoor Lotus category, there were 1 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze awards.
Leo Burnett, Melbourne picked up a Gold trophy for the Bonds ‘Bonds Out Now’ campaign.
Brandie Tan, Executive Creative Director at Wunderman Thompson Philippines, Manila, said: “‘Bonds Out Now’ was a true Outdoor campaign. It communicated from afar with big bold letters, a short headline and beautiful portraits of real people. It looks and feels authentic the second you see it.”
PR LOTUS
In PR Lotus, there were 3 Gold, 4 Silver and 7 Bronze awarded.
The Gold PR winners are:
• IRIS, Singapore : Warner Music Asia, ‘Unsung’
• Leo Burnett, Melbourne: Bonds ‘Bonds Out Now’
• TBWA,Sydney: Tourism New Zealand, ‘Play NZ’.
PRESS LOTUS
In the Press Lotus category, there were 1 Silver and 1 Bronze winners.
PRINT & OUTDOOR CRAFT LOTUS
In the Print & Outdoor Craft Lotus category, there were 1 Silver and 1 Bronze winners.
“A burger is convenient. It’s quick, it’s easy, you can eat it with one hand. It’s a very unfussy food. To see it depicted as a love interest, a sex object even, genuinely made me laugh. In a good way. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a burger that way,” said Jameilee Que, Creative Director at BBDO Guerrero in Manila.
John Koay, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy Hong Kong, agrees: “This piece of work is a fine example of a classic print ad done well. You look at it, then it hits you with the 'ah-ha' moment when you realise you're looking at something else, the product. Nice one.”
GRANDE FOR HUMANITY
The Grande for Humanity, which recognizes excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility or Public Services & Cause Appeals, went to Leo Burnett Melbourne for ‘Bonds Out Now’, created for Bonds.
“It’s very hard to balance capitalism with a social point-of-view. I think we all loved how effortlessly this campaign managed to do that. It uses well established formats of advertising to proudly celebrate and encourage the LGBTQ community. For a big brand, that was a pretty bold move and it was executed with class,” says Abhinav Tripathi, Executive Creative Director at McCann Worldgroup India.
Founded in 1998, ADFEST is Asia’s longest-running and most celebrated regional creative festival. ADFEST is included in the WARC Rankings, successor to The Gunn Report, which combine the winners' lists from the world's most important awards to establish the annual worldwide league tables for the global advertising industry.
