Adfest 2020 Lotus Awards winners revealed!
ADFEST is delighted to announce the winners of the ADFEST 2020 Lotus Awards, announced at today’s online ceremony on Monday 15th February 2021, 6:00pm (UTC+7). These awards were scheduled to take place in Thailand last year, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. With 60 jurors, the judging process was guided by Grand Jury President Judy John, Global Chief Creative Officer at Edelman, Toronto.
Vinit Suraphongchai, Chairman of ADFEST, said: “After a turbulent year, it was wonderful to come together again as an industry – albeit virtually – to celebrate ground-breaking ideas. Our jury was looking for ideas with innovative thinking at the core, along with powerful brand messages with strong impact. It is no easy feat to win a Lotus trophy: all winners should be very proud.”
Jimmy Lam, President of ADFEST, said: “We would like to thank our all-star jury for their dedication to judging these awards, along with everyone who has waited so patiently for these results after a long postponement. All winning work proves the power of creative problem solving and the diversity of ideas in our region. Congratulations to all winners.”
ADFEST’s highest accolade is the ‘Grande’ trophy, with 11 Grande winners at ADFEST 2020:
Brand Experience Lotus Grande: Foxtel ‘Grave of Thrones’ campaign by Revolver, Sydney and DBB Sydney, Sydney
Design Lotus Grande: Mori Building’s ‘Mori Building Brand Movie Designing Tokyo’ by Dentsu Creative X Inc., Tokyo and Dentsu Inc., Tokyo
Digital Craft Lotus Grande: Amazarashi’s ‘The Dystopia Experience’by Six Inc., Tokyo, Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo and Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyo
Direct Lotus Grande: NRMA Insurance ‘NRMA Safety Hub’ by CHE Proximity, Melbourne
Film Craft Lotus Grande: Mori Building’s ‘Mori Building Brand Movie Designing Tokyo’ by Dentsu Creative X Inc., Tokyo and Dentsu Inc., Tokyo
Film Lotus Grande: DB Export’s ‘I’m Drinking it for You’ by Colenso BBDO, Auckland
INNOVA Lotus Grande: Tuna Scope for Sojitz Corporation by Dentsu Inc., Tokyo
Mobile Lotus Grande: Amazarashi’s ‘The Dystopia Experience’, by Six Inc., Tokyo, Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo and Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyo
Outdoor Lotus Grande: ANZ Bank Australia’s ‘Signs of Love’, by Revolver, Sydney and TBWAMelbourne, Melbourne
Print & Outdoor Craft Lotus Grande: Chupa Chups ‘A Sweet Escape Campaign: Homework/Music/Tidy-Up’ by Cheil, Hong Kong and Illusion CGI Studio, Bangkok
And the Grande that recognizes excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility or Public Services & Cause Appeals, the Grande for Humanity: ‘A Team of One’ for Tencent Foundation’s China Organ Donation by Loong, Beijing.
Ted Lim was one of seven Jury Presidents overseeing Branded Entertainment Lotus & Effective Lotus. He said: “We need forums like ADFEST to recognise good work and set standards so the industry has a North Star to look to and learn from, to produce more of the ads that people love and less of the ads that people loathe.”
James Burchill, Creative Founder of Rumble/Rumbletown Group in Brisbane, was another juror who judged Branded Entertainment Lotus & Effective Lotus. He said: “Asia leads the way in ‘unpredictability’. There’s always surprising work, and curious work. Even non-sensical work. But it is that special blend of creativity which is unique in the world, and which means we needn’t feel we should be looking anywhere else for what great work looks like. I felt I came away from the experience a better creative. Actually, in my jury, we all felt that way.”
BRAND EXPERIENCE LOTUS
“It was just so simple, so direct and so perfectly in keeping with the brand of Game of Thrones. Anyone who saw the work instantly wanted to experience it for themselves and that is exactly what great brand experience is all about,” said Rory Brett, VP, Group Creative Director at Jack Morton Worldwide, Singapore, who judged these categories.
Jamal Hamidi, Executive Creative Director, Global Business at DDB Group Hong Kong adds: “The level of craft in the execution was simply stunning, and as an experience, it really lived and breathed the subject matter. In a category where you tend to see a lot of CSR and social purpose work, the fact that it had measurable business results in the form of pay TV subscriptions really lifted this entry up above the competition.”
The Gold winners in this category are:
- TBWAHakuhodo, Tokyo won two Gold trophies for the Para Ping Pong Table’s ‘The Most Challenging Ping Pong Table’ and ‘The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders’ campaigns
- Revolver, Sydney and TBWAMelbourne, Melbourne: ANZ Bank Australia ‘Signs of Love’
- Loong, Beijing : Tencent Foundation’s China Organ Donation ‘A Team of One’
- McCann Worldgroup, Tel Aviv: IKEA ‘ThisAbles’.
Regarding IKEA’s ‘ThisAbles’ by McCann Worldgroup, Tel Aviv, Hamidi adds: “I like how it took 3D printing technology, something that we’ve all come to think of as a bit of a gimmick, and used it in a meaningful way to make a difference.”
Regarding Loong, Beijing’s win, he says: “We were struck by the sheer power and emotion of ‘A Team of One’. For people who think that brand experiences exist purely to fit some cliched notion of “surprising and delighting” people, ‘A Team of One’ proves that a great experience can touch audiences on a deeper, more profound level.”
Overall, there were 1 Grande, 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze winners in the Brand Experience Lotus category.
BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT LOTUS
“This was a simple yet remarkable design idea that visualised the challenges faced by para-athletes,” said Ted Lim, Jury President of Branded Entertainment Lotus & Effective Lotus and an independent Creative Consultant based in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
James Burchill, Creative Founder of Rumble/Rumbletown in Brisbane, adds: “This campaign connected us with Paralympians in a new and deeply thoughtful way. We felt the campaign would create a whole new respect for the players and the sport. The idea, including the Ping Pong tournament, was irresistible.”
DESIGN LOTUS
“The detail is stunning and seamless. It is long, but you are never bored with it. And it is so rare to experience a piece of motion graphics that you are happy to re-watch – there’s so much to discover in it. Just beautiful,” said Mark Braddock, Co-Founder and Creative Director at Block Branding in Perth.
Three Gold trophies are also awarded to:
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo won two Gold trophies for The One Show 2019 Exhibition in Japan ‘Creativity, Uncaged.’
- McCann Worldgroup, Tel Aviv : IKEA ‘ThisAbles’.
“The Dystopia Experience is an inspiration. It raises the bar for the Mobile category and shows where amazing craft can take us. In a live concert, there is no room for errors. To still maintain brilliant execution in delivering an audience-wide immersive mobile experience requires a truly commendable effort,” said Digital Lotus, Digital Craft Lotus and Mobile Lotus Jury President Kalpesh Patankar, Chief Creative Officer MENA at VMLY&R Dubai.
Hamish Stewart, Creative Partner at GHO Sydney also judged these categories. He adds: “'Dystopia Experience' actually did justice to the term ‘experience’, shaping an incredible, immersive live experience for tens of thousands of concertgoers, with an unfolding story that led to a rewarding payoff. Orchestrating something like this is incredibly challenging, with little margin for error. Doing it to this level of craft, while making the most of the technology available, makes it an undeniable Grande.”
There are also 2 Gold winners in Digital Craft Lotus:
- McCann Worldgroup Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Cigna’s ‘See Stress Differently’
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo : ‘Tuna Scope’ for Sojitz Corporation
Kalpesh Patankar, Chief Creative Officer MENA at VMLY&R Dubai and Jury President of Digital Lotus, Digital Craft Lotus and Mobile Lotus said: “Amidst all the wonderful work, there were a few pieces that stood out, creating a great deal of debate and discussion among the jury such as ‘Eva Stories’ and KFC’s ‘Pocket Franchise’.”
“We decided not to award a ‘Grande’ to any piece this year. This does not take away from the creative mettle of the entries, but encourages game-changing efforts for the coming year,” he adds.
Hamish Stewart, Creative Partner at GHO Sydney adds: “Now that digital isn't so new anymore, creating ideas that don't feel somewhat familiar is harder than ever. To really stand out, whether it's in the marketplace or the jury room, the work needs to be truly surprising, evoking that sense of humility that makes us all want to try harder. To win Gold, you really need to demonstrate a level of innovation with the technology itself.”
DIRECT LOTUS
Jamal Hamidi, Executive Creative Director, Global Business at DDB Group Hong Kong said: “‘Safety Hub’ was a fantastic demonstration of how powerful a direct marketing idea can be. We really admired how it used data and personalization to create a win for everyone involved, providing a genuinely better experience for customers, while at the same time, saving NRMA money as a business.”
Congratulations to this year’s Gold winners in Direct:
- CHE Proximity, Melbourne also won two Golds for NRMA Insurance ‘NRMA Safety Hub’ and one gold for RACV ‘Cover for their Overconfidence’
- Accenture Interactive China, Shanghai : KFC’s ‘Pocket Franchise’
- Leo Burnett, Mumbai, India : HDFC Bank ‘#StopMithani’.
“The idea is brilliant: using your partner’s past browsing history on JD to find the perfect gift for her/him,” says Cyril Drouin, Chief eCommerce Officer China & North Asia of Publicis & Co-CEO of Performics China, Shanghai.
“Overall, I think Asia does lead the way in terms of eCommerce but is definitely behind in terms of creative. The maturity is not here yet. Budgets might be an issue as well.”
EFFECTIVE LOTUS
The Gold trophies are:
- Loong, Beijing : Tencent Foundation’s China Organ Donation, ‘A Team of One’
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo : Tohoku Shinkansen, ‘Get back, Tohoku!’
Akae Wang, Executive Creative Director at Tencent, Shenzhen, also judged these categories. He adds: “With simple artwork and timeless copywriting, this series of posters uses the quietest voice but has the power like a tsunami to touch every user who loves railroad travel. This is already a classic, and years later, this set of works still continues to look at the scenery in those inconspicuous stations. If I could see it, I would love to steal it, really.”
FILM CRAFT LOTUS
“This is a very well thought-through piece of work. From transition, to VFX, to art direction and the like, you can tell how thoroughly and articulately planned out it was from the beautifully-crafted result,” said Sling Ng, Film Director & Co-Founder of Directors Think Tank, Singapore.
Congratulations to all Gold winners in Film Craft:
- Dentsu Creative X Inc., Tokyo has also won a Gold trophy for Mori Building’s ‘Mori Building Brand Movie Designing Tokyo’
- Grey Japan, Tokyo : WildAid’s ‘Hankograph’
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo : Panasonic Corporation ‘Mr. Oil’
- 116 Pictures, Ho Chi Minh City and The Purpose Group, Ho Chi Minh City : The Coffee House ‘2 Letters - TET’ campaign.
FILM LOTUS
“‘I’m Drinking it for You’ doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it works. It’s clever, bold and hugely entertaining. And the more you watch it, the funnier it gets,” said Paul Chan, Chief Creative Officer at Cheil Hong Kong, who judged this category.
Choojai and Friends, Bangkok won Gold in Film for Night Night’s ‘Bad Genius -Watch to Sleep version’.
INNOVA LOTUS
This year, the INNOVA Lotus Category received 38 entries. There were 1 Grande and 6 Gold Lotus awards.
The INNOVA Lotus category rewards genuine innovation, talk-value and results. Dentsu Inc., Tokyo in Japan has won the Grande INNOVA Lotus for ‘Tuna Scope’ for Sojitz Corporation.
There are also 6 INNOVA Lotus winners:
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo : ‘Tuna Scope’ for Sojitz Corporation
- BBDO Bangkok, Bangkok: Homepro, ‘7:1 Furniture Collection’
- McCann Worldgroup, Tel Aviv: IKEA, ‘ThisAbles’
- Innocean Worldwide, Seoul : Hyundai Motor Group, ‘The Quiet Taxi’
- ADK Creative One Inc., Tokyo: Ory Laboratory, ‘Avatar Robot Café’
- Havas Ortega, Manila: City of Valenzuela, ‘Project Save’.
Mark Braddock, Co-Founder and Creative Director at Block Branding in Perth and an ADFEST juror, adds: “‘ThisAbles’ was impressive for its scope. There are a lot of ‘creativity for good’ projects about at the moment and most feel, at best, a little scammy – just enough has been done to make them eligible for award shows – and at worst, outright exploitative. Whereas this was executed on an IKEA-scale. The solutions were simple yet effective and the overall approach sat nicely with the whole Scandi nature of the IKEA brand. The whole thing reinforced the IKEA brand without ever feeling tokenistic.”
LOTUS ROOTS
The Lotus Roots Category received 90 entries. There were 3 Lotus Roots winners awarded, but no Grande winner awarded to this category.
Lim explains: “The Lotus Roots award is unique to ADFEST. The work awarded has to demonstrate a cultural relevance that is unique to its place of origin. Entries from Japan should taste like wasabi, work from Thailand should smell like Tom Yum.”
Congratulations to all three ADFEST 2020 Lotus Roots winners:
- Geek Pictures Inc., Tokyo and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc., Tokyo : RCC Broadcasting’s ‘Relief Drama’
- TBWASri Lanka: Aura’s ‘Aura Incense Barricade’
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo: Euglena’s ‘The Last Day of Sushi.
- Taproot Dentsu, Mumbai : Free Press Journal’s ‘Free Initiatives’
- Innocean Worldwide, Seoul : Hanwha’s ‘Solar Boat: Clean up Mekong’
- Loong, Beijing : Tencent Foundation’s China Organ Donation’s ‘A Team of One’
- Accenture Interactive China, Shanghai : KFC, ‘Pocket Franchise’.
MOBILE LOTUS
The five Gold Mobile trophies are awarded to:
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo won two Gold trophies for Sojitz’s Corporation Tuna Scope
- CHE Proximity, Melbourne : NRMA Insurance ‘NRMA Safety Hub’
- McCann Health Shanghai, Shanghai : GlaxoSmithKline ‘Breath of Life’
- Leo Burnett Israel, Tel Aviv : K’s Galleries ‘Eva Stories’.
OUTDOOR LOTUS
“This is ambitious, powerful and exquisitely crafted – a beautiful idea that spreads the Mardi Gras love beyond Sydney to reach people all over the country. And it goes beyond a big idea to create real, meaningful impact. As a jury, we had a lot of love for this campaign,” says Paul Chan, Chief Creative Officer at Cheil Hong Kong.
Cheil, Hong Kong picked up a Gold trophy for the Chupa Chups ‘A Sweet Escape Campaign: Homework/Music/Tidy-up’.
PR LOTUS
Congratulations to all Gold PR winners:
- Dentsu Inc., Tokyo : Kissme, ‘We’re hiring… based on looks!’
- TBWASri Lanka, Colombo : Aura’s ‘Aura Incense Barricade’
- Loong, Beijing : Tencent Foundation’s China Organ Donation, ‘A Team of One’
- Leo Burnett, Mumbai : HDFC Bank, ‘#StopMithani’.
PRESS LOTUS
PRINT & OUTDOOR CRAFT LOTUS
“This is one of those campaigns where it is hard to imagine how it could have been executed better. After viewing a lot of self-important, self-righteous work it was great to see a lollypop brand happy to be a lollypop brand and not trying to solve the world’s problems. I appreciated the honesty of that,” said Mark Braddock, Co-Founder and Creative Director at Block Branding in Perth.
Congratulations to Gold winners in Print & Outdoor Craft Lotus:
- Illusion CGI Studio, Bangkok: Chupa-Chups ‘Homework’ for Illustration
- Cheil, Hong Kong: Chupa Chups ‘A Sweet Escape Campaign– Homework/Music/Tidy-up’ for Use of Illustration
Ted Lim, an independent Creative Consultant based in Singapore and Malaysia explains: “The jury was torn between ‘A Team of One’ and IKEA’s ‘ThisAbles’. Both were brilliant pieces of work that worked. They were different and made a huge difference. Much as we loved ‘ThisAbles’, ‘A Team of One’ had a bigger challenge and was produced on a bigger scale. The jury rewarded the team that reached the top of a higher mountain.”
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.
ADFEST will announce the finalists of the ADFEST Lotus Awards 2021 in March, followed by a virtual awards ceremony on 8 April, 2021 at 12pm (UTC+7).
For the complete list of ADFSEST 2020 Grande, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners, click here.
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