Adfest kicks off its 21st edition from today with an agenda to ‘Transform’

The 21st edition of Adfest has commenced in Pattaya, Thailand from today (March 21, 2018), with over 1,000 delegates, juries, speakers and exhibitors in attendance. 

The theme for Adfest 2018 is ‘Transform’. It reflects how creativity can help businesses connect, succeed and remain relevant in the fast-changing digital economy. 

The advertising festival celebrates and inspires creativity, bringing both Craft and Creative industries together over the four-day event. It offers a wide variety of rich content, from speaker sessions and workshops sourced from around the world to the largest exhibition of creative entries from the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, culminating in the Lotus Awards that select and reward the best work across 18 separate Craft and Creative categories. 

Vinit Suraphongchai, Chairman of Adfest, commented, “Adfest created and is run by industry people for industry people across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. It is our way of giving back and has been an integral part of the region’s creative community for more than twenty years.” 

Jimmy Lam, President of Adfest, added here, “Adfest has always put creativity first, celebrating the wonderful impact when inspiration combines with local culture and diversity. It looks through the different lenses of craft and creativity, providing the tools and stimulus for the next generation.” 

The design of the 2018 Adfest theme is inspired by the process of transforming one thing into another. It was created by Kinetic Singapore, led by Creative Director, Pann Lim. 

“We chose to express this idea of ‘transformation’ – which is a process that’s often vague, transcending time and space – in the form of a gradient, where the blurring of colours represents the melding and evolution of ideas,” explained Lim. 

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2018 Lotus Awards and Grand Jury President 

Adfest Lotus Awards are the highpoint of the four-day festival. There are 18 award categories being overseen by the Super Eight Jury Presidents and judged by 56 juries in total. This diverse group has been invited to travel to Adfest from 25 cities all over the world to set the highest standards for this year’s Lotus Awards. 

Leading the Super Eight Jury Presidents is Joyce King Thomas, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of McCann XBC, New York. 

Jimmy Lam said, “It is a true honour to have Joyce heading our judges this year. She is an accomplished leader and a visionary creative, and her experience has been invaluable in making sure this year’s Adfest Lotus Awards set a new benchmark for creative excellence.” 

King Thomas remarked, “The opportunity to see and debate Asia’s best work alongside talented people from all over the world at a beach town in Thailand has been incredible. As Grand Jury President, I have loved seeing how this diverse and culturally rich region is reinventing what we do.” 

Craft and Creative 

The four days of the Adfest Festival combines Craft@Adfest and Creative@Adfest. 

Craft@Adfest takes place on March 21 and 22, with a programme dedicated to production (including commercial production, post production, music and sound companies), digital professionals, and technological innovation. 

Creative@Adfest will take place on March 23 and 24, with a programme dedicated to agency and marketing professionals. 

Adfest App and Connect 

The Adfest App makes it possible for delegates to see and be notified about the latest news and information from Adfest from their phone. The App can be downloaded in either iOS or Android format and is updated regularly throughout the event with a day-by-day breakdown of this year’s programme, an introduction to jury members, the latest news and videos created by the Adfestbuzz team, a definitive guide to the best restaurants and entertainment in Pattaya, and all of this year’s finalists and winners. The Adfest App was developed by WebEnergy Shanghai. 

Adfest’s popular networking tool, called Adfest Connect, is on hand again this year to help delegates get in touch with each other during Adfest 2018. Delegates can search for people by name, company, city or country and send them an email to see if they’d like to meet up. 

Adfest 2018 has received close to 3,000 entries from 310 companies across 48 cities in Asia Pacific + MENA regions. The awards ceremonies will be held on the evening of Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24 covering all 18 Lotus Awards categories as well as announcing the winners of the Young Lotus Workshop and Popular Vote and the Special Lotus Awards.