ADFEST / WINNERS
21 March 2011
Innovative ideas from Australia and Japan dominated the Asian creativity showcase Adfest on the Thai island of Phuket last week
- Brand
- Adfest
- Media Type
- Integrated
- Online
- Out-of-home
- Source
- News
- Tags
- Adfest
- awards
- Asia
The crowd favourite was an ingenious campaign from Tokyo's Hakuhodo for its Smash Guitar client. Briefed to raise the profile of an obscure Japanese guitar manufacturer, the agency's solution was to create a low-price guitar purposefully designed to be smashed up by aspirant rock-stars. (The sides splinter easily on impact, but the central core remains intact and lives on). The Born to be Destroyed campaign won in multiple categories, including the Grand Prix in the Innova category. Its success gave creative director Jin Saiko - wryly clad in a vintage Santana shirt - multiple product placement opportunities live on stage!
Hakuhodo also earned metal for its ambitious adidas Skycomic campaign that celebrated the Japanese football team's passage into last year's World Cup in South Africa and the Impossible Wall collaboration with TBWA for adidas Tennis.
The regional Agency of the Year award, however, went to arch rivals Dentsu Tokyo who accrued the largest number of points, courtesy of campaigns such as UNIQLO Lucky Machine and Lucky Line.
A Contagious favourite which dominated the Cyber and Innova categories was Utsushi Kagami (SOUR: Mirror) through Masashi + Qanta + Saqoosha + Hiroki in Tokyo. Following on the viral success of their 2009 song 'Hibi No Neiro' the Japanese band Sour created a browser-based music video fuelled by the viewer's social media feeds.
Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne scooped numerous prizes, including an Innova Lotus and a 360 Lotus for Sensis Yellow Page's Hidden Pizza campaign and an Innova Lotus for a brilliant fundraising concept for a charity for the visually-impaired which saw the agency launch a unisex perfume called SupportScent - the idea being that blind people would be able to recognise the smell and acknowledge those who had bought the product.
It wasn't a vintage year for Print & Outdoor, categories in which Asian artistry usually excels. Highlights included: an expertly crafted campaign for the Rough Guide Budget Travel books which painted dramatic panoramas using genuine imagery featured on coins from the countries covered in the series; and a bold series of comic-style images for the Singapore Breast Cancer Foundation. (Both campaigns by DDB, Singapore).
Highlights in Ambient Media included: a PR-friendly Beach Blaster device for Cottee's from George Patterson, which turned empty cordial bottles into branded water pistols; and Fizzy Billboard for Chang Soda by JEH Bangkok which saw hundreds of fluorescent balloons replicating the product's effervescence.
DDB collected the Network of the Year prize. Standout contributions included the Green Pedestrian Crossing initiative for the China Environmental Protection Foundation by DDB Shanghai, which won Best of Show in Outdoor.
Contagious co-founder, Paul Kemp-Robertson who was a speaker at the festival commented: 'Despite the occasional hidden gem, the results show that Japan is still light years ahead in its application of mobile and online technology and beyond that, no other market in the region matches Australia for its creative edge across multiple media channels.'
Register for our newsletter /
COMMENTS /