By Sanjeev Kotnala
Pattaya Adfest is my favourite advertising-communication festival. The 2019 festival came to an end last Saturday. Due to some personal emergencies, I had to cancel my trip at the last moment.
India won 16 Lotus awards, and we are aware of the work.
I have been following the fest online and keeping a tab on the winners. Here I am sharing some of the Lotus awards winning creative that I personally liked.
‘FriendShit’, ‘Disgusting stories’ and ‘Speak-up’, won the Gold Lotus for Film. Prasoon Joshi, Audio and Film Jury President, Adfest Pattaya had this to say about these winners: “‘Friendshit’ stood out because the direction, casting and writing is fantastically done. ‘Disgusting Stories’ is a timeless idea, while ‘Speak Up’ is of the moment – it encourages people to do more than watch, share or like a video but to take action.”
So, in the era when Social cause is becoming the new celebrity of brand association and communication, Prasoon Joshi made a valid and hugely relevant comment. “If we were awarding pure craft only, we would have had a lot more winners. I would like to encourage younger generations to pay equal attention to the idea and execution. Not many entries married both. There was a time when our industry felt Public Service Announcements for charity work should not win Grande awards. The time has come to reconsider this. A lot of brands are partnering more with charities. What we need to understand is that this work is brand related. We are living in a world where people do care about what their favourite brands are doing for humanity at large – they are not just consuming their products but also their brand philosophies.”
‘FRIENDSHIT’ won the Grande Lotus for Branded Entertainment. The jury said “We found one supreme example in ‘Friendshit’. It connected the brand, Kasikorn Bank’s K PLUS app, to people in a unique and engaging way. A brilliant and highly entertaining idea that created human value and rewarded people for their time.”
In the category ‘Branded Entertainment’ the two gold Lotus were won by Publicis Singapore for Vicks India ‘One in a Million’ and J. Walter Thompson, Bangkok for Sunsilk ‘Hair Talk’.
Mark Tutssel, Jury President; Branded Entertainment, Effective and Integrated Lotus explained: “The jury was looking for work that was brilliant in its thinking and innovative in its execution. We wanted to shine a light on the bravest, most transformative creative ideas in the region,”
My favourite winners at Adfest Pattaya.
‘Girl From Nowhere’
The series tells the story of Nanno, a mysterious schoolgirl who takes the audience on an extraordinary tale of revenge. Powered by women to empower women, the IP is co-owned by the agency and client. (‘Girl From Nowhere’, Sour Bangkok for GMM Grammy – winner Gold for Effective Lotus- watch the series trailer ).
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0vN-qJReZQg
Mark Tutssel sums it up: “The agency created a new business model by turning themselves, ‘the creative agency for women’, into an insightful content creator. The series created incredible social impact.”
It is entirely a new dimension, and I personally would have loved to be part of such an engaging initiative in any capacity.
The Unforgettable Bag.
The world’s oceans are drowning in plastic; the vast majority are single use. On average, every Malaysian uses 300 plastic bags per year, 9 billion bags in total. To accelerate the reduction in single-use bags and reinforce Tesco as a leading sustainability champion created the Unforgettable Bag. By simply adding a barcode, they transformed the bag into an on-going discount, an incentive that creates behaviour change on a mass scale. Creating a life-saving behaviour every time we shop. (Unforgettable Bag, Grey Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur for Tesco Malaysia – Winner INNOVA LOTUS)
‘Al Umobuwah: Putting ‘Mum’ Into ‘Parenthood’.
And when you look for change and contribution, you cannot miss the INNOVA Gold winner ‘Al Umobuwah: Putting ‘mum’ into ‘parenthood’. It’s a brilliant thought. In Arabic, words representing parenthood are all derived from Father. So the agency created a new inclusive word for its client ‘Babyshop’. This new world for Parenthood is inclusive and has ‘Mum’ in it. It also won LOTUS roots, representing a work that draws on the different histories and cultures of the countries and people of Asia Pacific and MENA regions. (FP7 McCann Dubai for Babyshop ‘Al Umobuwah: Putting ‘mum’ into ‘Parenthood’)
Impressive Winners at Adfest Pattaya.
Also winning in the Innova Lotus was BWM Dentsu, Sydney for The ALS Association ‘Project Revoice’, Leo Burnett Colombo / Leo Burnett Toronto for JAT Paints ‘Petal Paint’ (also winner Gold Lotus Roots). Here link to a wonderful Brand experience and engagement lotus winner, the AIG Pride Jersey.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=7sLLEdBgYYY
Hot and spicy KFC (Outdoor and print craft), McDonald’s- All-nighters (outdoor), Kill one kill all- for Freeland foundation (Print Craft), And the NARCOS outdoor.
Here is the BBDO Bangkok work for Mercedes-Benz Vans ‘The Universal Language of Pain’ . Simple, original, relevant and one where the impact is global.
Do watch the outdoor winner, Super Air-down drone attack.
The above creative represents a small part of the Lotus awards. Being at the Adfest Pattaya gives you an opportunity to see all the entries and not just the shortlist or only the winners. One of the prime reasons for me to appreciate and attend the Adfest Pattaya.
In case you are interested in scanning other winners, you can access the list here and then search for them individually on the Internet. Happy hunting.
