And now, a word about Asia’s best ads

The Asia-Pacific Advertising Festival held in Pattaya, Thailand, dubbed by some as "the Cannes of Asia," held its sixth successful year last month with a record number of advertising award entries. It also had an impressive 27 percent increase in attendance, comprising 625 delegates from Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and India. The fantastic turnout pleased the festival organizers who were aware of various tipping points which could have soured the turnout – a slowdown in the Asian economy, the pending threat of war in Iraq, and threat of the spread of the SARS virus.

There was no stopping the optimistic outlook of the Asian advertising pros. AP Adfest chairman Vinit Suraphongchai confirmed that the event is the largest awards festival in the region. He says, "It is gratifying to see such a wonderful celebration of great advertising attended by people from so many Asia Pacific countries."

The sprawling beach-front Royal Cliff Hotel in Pattaya was home to the three-day advertising festival. It also served as the venue for regional creative meetings of top ad agencies Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and Dentsu, who all conveniently timed their conferences with the festival. BBDO had theirs at the nearby Sugar Hut Pattaya.

The delegates trooped into the festival halls each day to listen to talks by international advertising greats, including Saatchi & Saatchi Asia/Africa regional executive creative director Craig David, who also served as Adfest Awards Jury chairman, Donald Gunn, author of The Gunn Report, the accepted worldwide industry ranking of the best commercials, and Leo Burnett Chicago SVP creative director Kash Sree, creator of the last year’s Cannes Grand Prix winner for Nike "Tag."

Jury chairman Davis was supported by a team of 19 judges composed of renowned creative directors and commercial producers. This year, there were awards for 20 categories, including a new category for outdoor/poster campaign, plus six special Craft Awards.

Davis said, "As well as a strict marking system, there is always a healthy final debate between judges about which creative work deserves to win."

It was brought to issue, during an open forum, that this year’s jury, being all-male, may not have had the balanced insight of the fairer gender during the judging. For example, there is always the possibility that a commercial for a female product may have failed to get the male judges’ nods due to their lack of insight in the category. It was noted that the Philippines had no representation in this year’s jury unlike in previous years. With this in mind, most delegates expect a more balanced profile of judges next year.

The Adfest Print Awards night was anti-climatic, compared to the Film Awards night, when they failed to award the top prize for "Best of Print." The campaign selected by the judges for the top prize had to be withdrawn from the competition just before the awards ceremony after it was discovered to have first appeared after the Adfest entry cutoff date. It was expected that the print work that garnered the runner-up spot should have been named to the Best of Print award rather than have no top winner.

Saatchi & Saatchi Bangkok received top scores in the Adfest for winning the most number of awards in the print and TV categories. This winning agency, headed by a creative lady, Juriporn Thaidumrong, gathered two golds, two silvers, five bronzes, two Craft Awards and the grand prize for television, "The Best of TV" prize, for the Spy Cooler "DJ" commercial. This wacky commercial opens with an obedient young teenager cleaning the house as his attentive parents watch over him. His obsessive cleaning is magnified by the squeaky sounds in the background. He rejoices his leaving home when he gets drafted in the army, only to continue with his obsession for cleaning. When out on a date with his girlfriend, he sees a car completely covered with bird poo. He gives in to the temptation to clean the car and tears off a piece from his jeans. The commercial then cuts to him screaming and scratching a record in a disc jockey’s booth – the resolution to his squeaky clean career, followed by a product shot and the line "Spy Cooler. Free your Sparkle." A clear winner!

The Philippines had a better chance in last year’s Adfest when the country received a gold award for Leo Burnett Philippines’ McDonald’s television commercial, entitled "Karen," which was universally liked by last year’s jury, and a bronze for BBDO Guerrero Ortega’s spectacular production of the "Visa/Dining Out" television commercial.

This year, there were entries from leading ad agencies McCann-Erickson, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, BBDO Guerrero Ortega and TBWA Santiago Mangada Puno.

Only one agency was named finalist this year. This was BBDO Guerrero Ortega for their Bantay Usok "Bus" print/poster campaign and the Dot.ph "Starbucks" print ad.

In the Adfest ranking, the Philippines has still many rungs to go up the ladder before it even reaches the top. There is neither a lack of trying in the creative aspect nor is there a lack of ads to submit for the competition. However, the creative standard has just been raised, and our work in general is not up to par compared with other Asians who make it and win in the world stage. Singapore, Thailand and India lead in Asia in the Cannes, Clio and other similar prestigious international creative competitions. The Philippines must try harder.