Howatson + Company Australia named Oceania Agency of the Year at Adfest 2024

Howatson + Company Australia has been named Oceania Agency of the Year at ADFEST 2024, presented tonight in Pattaya, Thailand. Howatson+Company also took out the #2 Independent Agency of the Year title plus #3 Digital Agency of the Year. FINCH has been named #4 Production Company of the Year.

Howatson+Company Head of Craft Ellena Mills, who was a juror on the ADFEST Design Lotus and Print & Outdoor Craft Lotus jury this year, accepted the award on behalf of the agency.

NETWORK OF THE YEAR

Dentsu was awarded Network of the Year. The group of 9 offices that entered the ADFEST Lotus Awards included Dentsu Inc., Tokyo, Dentsu Creative, Melbourne, Dentsu Creative Vietnam / Dentsu Redder, Ho Chi Minh City, Dentsu Creative Indonesia, Jakarta, Dentsu Creative, Sydney, Dentsu Creative Thailand, Bangkok, Dentsu East Japan Inc., Tokyo, Dentsu Creative Taiwan, Taipei and Dentsu Digital Inc., Tokyo. Following by, the second to fifth place were awarded to:

• 2^nd– Hakuhodo
• 3^rd– VML
• 4^th – Leo Burnett
• 5^th – BBDO

AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Dentsu Inc., Tokyo was awarded Agency of the Year 2024. Following by, the second through fifth place were awarded to:

• 2^nd– Six Inc., Tokyo
• 3^rd– Impact BBDO, Dubai
• 4^th – Cheil Worldwide, Seoul
• 5^th – Good Design Company, Tokyo

INDEPENDENT AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Independent Agency of the Year went to Choojai and Friends, Bangkok. Following by, the second through fifth position were awarded to:

• 2^nd– Howatson + Company, Sydney
• 3^rd– Gigil, Manila
• 4^th – Topic & Loong, Beijing
• 5^th – Honda Office Inc, Tokyo
• 5^th – I&CO Tokyo, Tokyo
• 5^th – Pyramid Film Quadra Inc., Tokyo

DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Dentsu Inc., Tokyo was awarded Digital Agency of the Year. Trailing by, the second through fifth position were awarded to:

• 2^nd– DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai
• 3^rd– Howatson + Company, Sydney
• 3^rd– Six Inc., Tokyo
• 3^rd– VML, Singapore
• 3^rd– Wolf BKK, Bangkok

MEDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR

An Nahar Newspaper, Beirut was awarded Media Agency of the Year. Following by, the second through fifth position were awarded to:

• 2^nd– Cheil Worldwide, Seoul 
• 2^nd– CRE8 Marketing, Vientiane
• 2^nd– VML Ogilvy Japan, Tokyo
• 5^th – IDEOT, Seoul
• 5^th – SOUR Bangkok, Bangkok
• 5^th – Wavemaker, Jakarta

PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR

PR Agency of the Year, was Material Inc., Tokyo. Trailing by, the second through fifth position were awarded to:

• 2^nd– KMCgroup, Tokyo
• 2^nd– MullenLowe Treyna, Manila
• 4^th – For the Right Reasons, Amsterdam
• 4^th – Ogilvy Singapore, Singapore

PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR

Piano Inc., Tokyo was won Production Company of the Year. In the ranks just below, the second through fifth position were awarded to:

• 2^nd– Spoon., Tokyo
• 3^rd– Slanted, Tokyo
• 4^th – FINCH, Sydney
• 5^th – Dentsu Creative Cube Inc., Tokyo

ADVERTISER OF THE YEAR

Advertiser of the Year was won by JR Group. Following by, the second through fifth position were awarded to:

• 2^nd– McDonald’s
• 3^rd– Sotetsu Holdings
• 4^th – Koushi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
• 5^th – With ALS

REGIONAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR

This year, Regional Agency of the Year was added to 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)

Dentsu Inc., Tokyo was awarded East Asia Agency of the Year. Trailing by, the second through fifth position were awarded to:

• 2^nd– Six Inc., Tokyo
• 3^rd– Cheil Worldwide, Seoul
• 4^th – Good Design Company, Tokyo
• 5^th – Leo Burnett Taiwan, Taipei

Middle East Agency of the Year went to Impact BBDO, Dubai.

South Asia Agency of the Year was won by Leo Burnett India, Mumbai. Trailing by, the second position, DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai.

Choojai and Friends, Bangkok was awarded Southeast Asia Agency of the Year.Following by, the second through fifth position were awarded to:

• 2^nd– Wolf BKK, Bangkok
• 3^rd– VML, Singapore
• 3^rd– VML Indonesia, Jakarta
• 4^th – Ogilvy Group Thailand, Bangkok
• 5^th – Gigil, Manila

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, 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 Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for With ALS “Project Humanity”.

Says Malcolm Poynton, Global Chief Creative Officer for Cheil Worldwide, London was Grand Jury President for Lotus Grande for Humanity. He explained why the work was selected “Project Humanity is an Asia-tech solution for the world, designed to solve the impossible; enable those disabled by ALS.”

“While the case film focuses on the story of ALS sufferer and DJ, Massa, the power of Project Humanity is seen in testing with ALS kids being able to competitively game with the dexterity of fully-abled kids, to control robotics and Virtual Avatars. All achieved through three significant leaps; the discovery of immobile limbs carrying small electric signals wen the brain envisions movement, the leap that enabled small Bluetooth sensors to capture and feedback this electric signally to a computer before in the third leap, converting those signals into commands for pretty much any interface around.”

“It’s a triumph of human intelligence x sophisticated tech combining to advance humanity.”

LOTUS LEGEND: PIYUSH PANDEY 

Introduced in 2012, the Lotus Legend recognizes a creative leader who has impacted, contributed to and left a lasting legacy, by raising the bar for creative excellence in the region.

Each year, we ask all the ADFEST juries to nominate and vote for this Hall of Fame award. This year, 63 juries of ADFEST 2024 voted to elect Piyush Pandey, Chief Advisor, Ogilvy India as the 2024 Lotus Legend.

Piyush has been with Ogilvy since 1982.  And has been the Executive Chairman of Ogilvy India since 2004.  Prior to his current global creative role, he has served as the Global Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy for two and a half years. He was the first Asian to chair the Cannes jury in 2004. He was honoured with the Indian National Civilian Award (Padma Shri) in 2016 by the President of India and again this made him the first in the Advertising industry to receive this recognition and was awarded the Lion of St Mark at the International Festival of Creativity at Cannes in 2018, the first Indian to win this award. Economic Times, India’s foremost business paper, has named Piyush the most influential person in Indian advertising for 14 consecutive years, another first and undisputed title.

Piyush believes people in advertising can use their creativity to drive social change.  He has created several impactful social campaigns – including his many years of work with UNICEF and the Government of India to make India polio-free.  India was declared a polio-free country in 2014.

“You don’t wear your country on your sleeve, you wear your country in your heart. To the young people out there, believe in yourself, believe in your country and believe that the world will salute you one day.” said Piyush Pandey, ADFEST 2024 Lotus Legend.

Over 842 delegates from 57 cities attended ADFEST 2024 Human Intelligence venue from Thursday, 21^st March to Saturday, 23^rd March 2024 at PEACH, The Royal Cliff Beach Hotels Group, Pattaya, Thailand. The festival featured 31 sessions with 51 speakers, along with 6 interactive workshops led by 17 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 2024 Lotus Awards. They were led by Malcolm Poynton, Global Chief Creative Officer for Cheil Worldwide, London and viewed 1,587 entries to select the winners, which were announced at two evening awards presentations.

ADFEST looks forward to welcoming everyone again next year, as it continues to celebrate creativity, innovation, and the remarkable power of Human Intelligence ‘HI’.

Follow all the latest news and events via #ADFEST2024 #HumanIntelligence and #HI on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok (www.tiktok/@adfestofficial). To view the full program, visit www.ADFEST.com