Ad Stars Festival in Busan praised for openness

The Ad Stars 2017 Festival is underway in Busan, South Korea and at yesterday’s press conference, Helen Pak, President and Chief Creative Officer at Grey Group Canada explained why Ad Stars is different to other award shows.

“In the whole world of advertising, similar work rises to the top. So what have we seen that’s new here at Ad Stars  What I find refreshing at this show in particular is there’s more of a democracy and an openness – the fact there is no entry fee, and Ad Stars is open to the public – it’s very refreshing,” said Pak.

“The ad world is very insular when it comes to sharing what we do with the public beyond the placement of ads. It’s free to enter AD STARS, which means as a jury we were able to see a broader range of work. As advertising professionals, we see the same work all the time – but here, there is a wider range of great work. And the show allows us to see that wide range, and also share it with the broader community, which is really wonderful.”

Pak (right) said her jury was fortunate to see a great a range of work across the Interactive, Integrated, Innovation, Mobile and Radio categories.

“There were some exceptional ideas in all categories. In particular, in the Innovation category: although there weren’t as many shortlisted ideas, the ones that were on the list were quite amazing and breakthrough. We awarded Grand Prix awards in four of our five categories for work that really stood out. Collectively, the entire jury then chose the Grand Prix of the Year awards, which really stood out from the rest of the shortlisted work by excelling in insight, execution, craft and in the freshness of thinking. We wanted to make sure that the ideas really were rooted in the category in which it was entered. For example, when we were judging mobile, we made sure that the campaign had mobile at the core of the idea and not just as an added on element.”

She said: “It has been a great judging experience. Seeing such a variety of work from different regions and being with such a diverse group of talented judges has been an honour. The city of Busan has been wonderful to explore and the show organizers have been so incredibly hospitable and welcoming.”

Eui-Ja Lee, Co-Chairperson of the Ad Stars Executive Committee, opened the press conference by saying: “Ad Stars is the only ad festival in Korea, and the only festival with an open space for the general public, as well. I think that Ad Stars is one of the biggest ad festivals in the Asia Pacific region from the perspective of scale and its status. I hope that you enjoy the three-day AD STARS festival in Busan.”

Also at the press conference Hwan-Jin Choi, Co-Chairperson of the Ad Stars Executive Committee (left), explained this year’s theme, Creativity +-x Technology.

“This year’s festival will focus on humanism; the various stages of technology and its effects on the ad industry; as well as a focus on sharing – in Korean terms, sharing is related to having good relationships with neighbours and using creativity to make better lives. As a non-profit ad festival, we promote a beautiful world. And we also aim for openness as an ad festival – we are pleased to see so many more members of the public are participating in the festival,” he said.

Wain Choi, Senior Vice President & CCO at Cheil Worldwide, said: “I was born in Seoul and left when I was nine and emigrated to Canada. I only came back to Korea in the year 2007. In the last 10 years, we’ve had a lot of judges at Ad Stars  and it’s always a great honour to represent Korea on the jury panel. It is great to see more Korean work being awarded – the interest level in Korean advertising has been very successful as a result of Ad Stars.”

Suthisak Sucharittanonta, Chairman & CCO at BBDO Bangkok commented: “I was here two years ago and saw a lot of great work from around the world. This is a global show, but this year I saw fewer entries from Europe and America, from my observations. Why? Because this is such a great show, it is open to everyone – so I encourage all agencies to enter Ad Stars so we can see more great work here next year.”

He mentioned that it’s been 32 years since he first started his career in advertising! “Why don’t I retire? Because I still enjoy it because I never stop learning.”

Winners of this years Ad Stars will be announced at the awards presentation tomorrow night.