Finch + SuperMassive, Sydney takes out Lotus Grande for Humanity at Adfest for 36 Months; Ogilvy, Sydney awarded Oceania Agency of the Year
The culmination of ADFEST 2025 was the announcement of Lotus Special Awards presented tonight at PEACH, Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand. A highlight for Australia was the awarding to Finch + SuperMassive, Sydney of the Lotus Grande for Humanity for 36 Months ‘Raising the Age of Social Media Citizenship’.
NETWORK OF THE YEAR
ADFEST 2025 proud to announce that Dentsu has retained the title of Network of the Year. The group of 9 offices that entered the ADFEST Lotus Awards included Dentsu Inc., Tokyo, Dentsu East Japan Inc., Tokyo, Dentsu Indonesia, Jakarta, Dentsu Creative China, Shanghai, Dentsu Digital Inc., Tokyo, Dentsu Creative Taiwan, Taipei, Dentsu Creative Force Inc., Tokyo, Dentsu Creative Thailand/Dentsu One Bangkok, Bangkok, and Dentsu Creative inc., Singapore.
Following on, the second to fifth place runners up were:
2. Leo
3. Ogilvy
4. BBDO
5. McCann Worldgroup
AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Dentsu Inc., Tokyo was awarded Agency of the Year 2025.
The second to fifth places were allocated to:
2. Ogilvy Singapore, Singapore
3. BBDO India, Mumbai
4. Leo India, Mumbai
5. McCann Worldgroup India, Gurgaon
INDEPENDENT AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Independent Agency of the Year went to Gigil Manila.
The second to fifth positions were taken by:
2. Bigtime Creative Shop, Riyadh
3. Good People Network, Jakarta
4. Supermassive, Sydney
5. CJ WORX, Bangkok
5. Motion Sickness, Auckland
DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Good People Network, Jakarta was awarded Digital Agency of the Year.
The second to fifth places were allocated to:
2. Dentsu Inc., Tokyo
3. Dentsu Indonesia, Jakarta
4. Gigil, Manila
5. CJ WORX, Bangkok
MEDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Ogilvy, Mumbai was awarded Media Agency of the Year.
Following on, the second to fifth place runners up were:
2. Zenith, Sydney
2. STDecaux, Shanghai
2. Foundation, Sydney
5. Cheil Worldwide, Seoul
PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR
PR Agency of the Year, was Ogilvy PR, Singapore.
The second to fifth positions were taken by:
2. SOUR Bangkok, Bangkok
3. Edelman, Bangkok
4. Platinum Inc., Tokyo
5. Acti Media, Mumbai
PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Production Company of the Year was won by a trio of companies, including Atypicalfilms, FVSE and Dandelion Studios, all from Singapore.
In the ranking below, the fourth to fifth positions were given to:
4. Piano Inc., Tokyo
5. Mellow Tunes, Bangkok
ADVERTISER OF THE YEAR
Advertiser of the Year was won by Heineken.
The second to fifth positions were taken by:
2. Pepsico
3. ESAF Small Finance Bank
4. P&G
4. McDonald’s
REGIONAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Regional Agency of the Year is now a part of ADFEST Special Awards line-up. The award will be given to the Agency with the highest score (at least 30 points to be eligible for Regional Agency of the Year). Awards are given to agencies with the highest score from East Asia, Middle East, Oceania, South Asia and South East Asia
Dentsu Inc., Tokyo was awarded East Asia Agency of the Year.
The second through fifth position were allocated to:
2. INNOCEAN, Seoul
3. TBWAGroup China, Shanghai
4. Dentsu East Japan Inc., Tokyo
5. Dentsu Creative China, Shanghai
Middle East Agency of the Year went to BigTime Creative Shop, Riyadh.
Ogilvy, Sydney was awarded Oceania Agency of the Year.
The second place went to Supermassive, Sydney.
South Asia Agency of the Year was won by BBDO India, Mumbai.
In the ranking below, the second to fifth positions were given to:
2. Leo India, Mumbai
3. McCann Worldgroup India, Gurgaon
4. Havas Creative India, Mumbai
5. McCann Worldgroup India, Mumbai
Ogilvy Singapore, Singapore was awarded Southeast Asia Agency of the Year.
In the ranking below, the second to fifth positions were given to:
2. BLKJ Havas, Singapore
3. Leo Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
4. Gigil, Manila
5. BBDO Bangkok, Bangkok
LOTUS GRANDE FOR HUMANITY
The Lotus Grande for Humanity recognizes creative excellence in the Public Services & Cause Appeals categories. Gold Lotus winners in Brand Experience, Commerce, Creative Strategy, Design, Digital & Social, Direct, Effective, Entertainment, Film, Media, Mobile, Outdoor, PR, Press, Radio & Audio (Except Audio Craft Lotus sub-categories), Sustainable, INNOVA and Lotus Roots are eligible to win the Lotus Grande for Humanity.
This year’s winner is Finch, Sydney / SuperMassive, Sydney for 36 Months ‘Raising the Age of Social Media Citizenship’.
Susan Credle, Global Creative Advisor, for Interpublic & Former Chair & Global CCO for FCB New York was Grand Jury President for Lotus Grande for Humanity. She explained why the winning work was selected: “The ADFEST 2025 Grande For Humanity winner was an idea that we felt would change lives for years to come. It was a simple solution with a profound impact. It reminded us that a complex problem that everyone is concerned about can be solved with language, design and a passion to create change.”
LOTUS LEGEND: MERLEE CRUZ JAYME
Introduced in 2012, the Lotus Legend recognizes a creative leader who has impacted, contributed to and left a lasting legacy in our industry by raising the bar for creative excellence in the region.
Each year, Adfest asks all the ADFEST juries to nominate and vote for this Hall of Fame award. This year, 63 juries of ADFEST 2025 voted to elect Merlee Cruz Jayme, Chairmom® and founder of The Misfits Camp and former Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu International APAC as the 2025 Lotus Legend.
Merlee founded The Misfits Camp, the first-ever safe space in the world to assess and upskill neurodivergent and deaf creative adults and bridge them to the creative industry. Just this year – 2025, she founded Jayme Headquarters, a social enterprise creative agency that provides actual workplace experience for divergent creatives.
Before this, Merlee was an advertising veteran and a creative leader. She was Dentsu McGarryBowen Global co-president and led Dentsu International APAC as Chief Creative Officer to greater heights by winning the ADFEST Network of the Year 2020 and 2022, Spikes Network of the Year 2021, Cannes Lions Regional Network of the Year 2021, and AD STARS Network of the Year 2021.
As Dentsu Asia Pacific’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lead in 2021 and 2022, her work on diversity and inclusion in advertising has positively impacted the industry.
Her work pushes Insights and innovation and inspires creative collaboration.
Having won major awards, including the Philippines’s only Cannes Lions Grand Prix, she was among the eight women in the world’s top 100 Chief Creative Officers by the 2019 Drum Global Ranking.
The first Filipino to be named Creative of the Year in Southeast Asia by Campaign Asia, she was also recognized with the 4As of the Philippines Lifetime Achievement Awardee in 2023, the Hall of Fame Award by the 4As Creative Guild, The New York Festivals Creative Achievement Award, and the CEO of the Year by the International Association of Business Communicators, the Asian Marketing Federation Woman Marketer of the Year 2019, and the Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change Women’s Advancement Champion for her creative work for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in 2024.
Merlee is one of CNN’s Leading Women, the author/illustrator of four creative books, the mom of four creative women, and an inspiration for breaking the glass ceiling in this mad men’s world.
By the end of the ADFEST, more than 900 delegates from 56 cities had attended the three-day event from Thursday, 20th March to Saturday, 22nd March 2025 at PEACH, The Royal Cliff Beach Hotels Group, Pattaya, Thailand. The festival featured 27 sessions with 55 speakers, along with 7 interactive workshops led by 10 speakers. Additionally, delegates had the opportunity to explore exhibitions, screenings, and parties throughout the three-day event.
The event organisers invited 63 jury members to judge the ADFEST 2025 Lotus Awards. They were led by Susan Credle, Global Creative Advisor, for Interpublic & Former Chair & Global CCO for FCB New York and Grand Jury President. The juries viewed 1,641 entries to select the winners, which were announced at two evening awards presentations.