AdStars 2014 concludes in Busan with Dentsu Tokyo, Forsman & Bodenfors + Lowe China splitting the US$20,000 cash prizes; FCB New Zealand wins a Grand Prix for Mini ‘Driving Dogs’

Held over the past three days in Busan South Korea, the AdStars Festival concluded tonight with a gala awards show. The Festival is the world’s first convergent advertising event consisting of online preliminary rounds followed by a final judging round held in Busan. This year AdStars received 12,591 entries from 62 countries.

Unique to AdStars is the Grand Prix decisions with two Grand Prix winners receiving a US$10,000 cash prize – one in Public Service Advertising and the other in Product & Service.

After fierce discussions the Product & Service Grand Prix jury vote was tied – with 13 judges a piece going for the highly awarded Volvo Trucks “Live Test Series” campaign by Forsman & Bodenfors from Sweden, and “Sound of Honda / Ayrton Senna 1989” for Honda Motors by Dentsu from Japan. The jury decided to spit the cash prize and award US$5,000 to each campaign.

The winner in the Public Service Advertising category was more clear cut with “Human Traffic Signs” for Shanghai General Motors by Lowe China winning the Grand Prix and a cash prize of US$10,000. (see the print campaign here).

This year, in particular, saw the entry of a large number of works that had also been entered in advertising festivals of global prominence, making a case for the level of attention to the event among the global advertising industry. An increasing number of works from non-East Asian regions such as Europe, Africa and the Middle East were entered, making the competition hotter than ever. A rigorous and unbiased screening process undertaken by creative leaders whose authority is recognized internationally has resulted in 164 major awards and 78 special ones being given to a total of 242 works among 1,666 finalists.

Notably, one keyword summing up the 2014 winners would be ‘car’. The co-winners in the Products and Services category, “Live Test Series” and “Sound of Honda / Ayrton Senna 1989”, mark a departure from the conventional approach of focusing on comfort and use ingenious creative pieces to connect product excellence and technological prowess, garnering high marks from the judges. The winner in the Public Service category, Human Traffic Sign, a traffic safety campaign run by Shanghai GM underscored the importance of safe driving by featuring those who have been disabled in traffic accidents, which is highly regarded as a creative idea to resolve a social issue.

16 other Grand Prix awards were handed out tonight.

“Sound of Honda / Ayrton Senna 1989” won 4 additional Grand Prix trophies (5 in total) – in Branded Content, Innovation, Interactive and Promotion.

Hakuhodo Tokyo’s “Rice Code” also won 5 Grand Prix awards – in Direct, Outdoor, Outdoor Craft, PR and Promotion.

Single Grand Prix awards went to Cheil China for “Rebirth after Reading”, Hakuhodo Kettle Japan for Suntory Hibiki Glass, Lowe China Human Traffic Signs (Print Craft), BBDO Germany for WWF “The Ant Rally”, Cheil Worldwide for UNHCR “Invisible People” and FCB New Zealand for Mini “Driving Dogs”.

In total FCB New Zealand scored a Grand Prix and four Gold awards for Mini ‘Driving Dogs’, one Gold, one Crystal and two Bronze for Sony’s ‘The Bottled Walkman‘, a Bronze for Prime TV ‘Doctor Who Moonbounce Receiver‘ and a Bronze for Unicef NZ ‘Food Photos Save Lives‘.

Whybin\TBWA\DAN NZ scored a Crystal and two Bronze awards for CAANZ’s ‘Effies Results Don’t Lie‘ campaign and three Bronze for Minds for Minds Trust’s ‘Meeting of the Minds‘ campaign.

In addition, TBWA was awarded the Network Award of the Year, and Cheil Worldwide the Agency of the Year Award, which is given to an advertising company receiving the highest marks based on the awards won by it in the current year. The Advertiser of the Year Award goes to Samsung Electronics.

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