Ogilvy returns to host ADFEST’s 2024 Young Lotus Workshop, headed by Asia-Pacific CCO Reed Collins

Ogilvy returns to host the popular Young Lotus Workshop at ADFEST again this year, headed by Aussie expat Reed Collins, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Asia-Pacific.

The Young Lotus Workshop 2024 is a two-and-a-half-day workshop designed to fast-track the careers of up-and-coming young creative teams across the region. It is one of the industry’s longest-running mentoring programs, providing the next generation of advertising leaders with valuable hands-on, practical experience since 2004. The program is open to advertising professionals aged 30 and under, with teams selected by local representatives in markets across the region.

The Workshop, that will run Tuesday 19 – Thu 21 March, is divided into two halves. The first half is dedicated to talks and lectures by leading industry professionals. In the second half, attendees will work in teams on a 24-hour creative brief and present it to the Young Lotus committee.

Finalist teams will then present on stage in front of delegates at the Ogilvy Presents Young Lotus Workshop 2024 on Saturday 23 March at 11.50-13.00 and delegates will get to cast their votes for their favourite team to determine Popular Vote winner.

Collins said: “I am so proud that Ogilvy is back hosting the Young Lotus competition for the second year in a row. Supporting the next generation of creative minds that will help drive the industry forward across the region for years to come. It’s gonna be a blast!”

The host team includes:

Reed Collins, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Asia-Pacific is one of very few chief creative officers who have had the opportunity or experience to work across five continents. Originally from Australia, Reed Collins has been based in Hong Kong for the last nine years and is responsible for the creative output of all Ogilvy offices in APAC. Along the way, he has accumulated over 33 Cannes Lions (2 x Grand Prix), 31 One Show pencils (Best of Show x SDG), 26 D&AD pencils (3 x Yellow) and some of this work features as part of the permanent collection at the MoMa NYC.

Stephan Schwarz, Senior Creative Director, Ogilvy Singapore, left corporate communications and a VP job ten years ago to become a creative. He has worked in small independent shops and international powerhouses in Europe and has been the Creative Director at Ogilvy Singapore for Unilever in the last 18 months years for top tier brands such as Dove, Closeup and Vaseline.

Julia Hou, Group Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Beijing and South China Offices, has lived and worked in Taiwan, New Zealand, United States, Hong Kong and China. Her multi-cultural background and life experience gives her the insight into global diversity and her creative work, that ranges from holistic brand building to advertising, leads with deep consumer understandings. Julia’s advertising career started off at TBWA Media Arts Lab, and she has since created campaigns and communications for some of the world’s most influential companies including Nike, McDonalds, Johnson & Johnson, Clinique and Huawei.

Kainaz Karmakar, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India, believes great ideas can drive business and impact social change. She has led her team to win over 40 Global Metals – Cannes Golds, One Show Gold, One Show Asia, D&AD White Pencil, Spikes, D&AD Impact, for education and humanitarian work, as well as a Cannes Glass Lion And Asia’s first Cannes Grand Prix For Creative Effectiveness. If you ask her to describe her work, she would say, “Brave”.

Supparat Thepparat, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Bangkok, began his career at BBDO Bangkok, where he earned success at a very early stage. This led to a role at McCann Worldgroup Middle East where he worked for a number of high-profile clients and at Dentsu One, Bangkok, as a creative lead. AT JWT, Shanghai, and BBDO, Guangzhou, he was Creative Lead and Creative Partner respectively, and before joining Ogilvy Thailand, Supparat was Creative Lead at the Adapter Digital Agency.

David Dahan, Managing Director, WPP@Unilever and President & Managing Director, The&Partnership APAC, has led agencies and global clients for the past 10 years in London, Australia and Singapore. Prior to that he was a brand and communication strategist. Over his 20+ years of experience, David has worked on famous brands such as Toyota, Dulux, Mercedes, J&J, Gillette, Emirates, Stella Artois, Aviva and, as Global Client Lead, many Unilever brands – Dove, DiG, Axe, Clear, Hellmann’s, Pond’s, Vaseline, Comfort. David now leads The&Partnership and is the WPP global lead for Unilever in Singapore, where he created a global hub, bringing the might of over 100 dedicated people from 10 different WPP companies, across creative, media, research and production. David is particularly proud of the awarded work for Dove which is now a case study in terms of inclusive, empathy-driven, brand and product marketing that tripled the size of the brand in less than 20 years, turning it to Unilever’s largest brand.

ADFEST 2024 takes place Thursday 21 – Saturday 23 March at the Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand. Get your delegate passes to the 3-day festival at ADFEST.com