Other than the last edition, I have attended every edition GoaFest and yet I favour ADFEST Pattaya. It is the first festival of the year and Asia’s most celebrated regional creative festival. One of the eight regional creative festivals in the WARC 100 Creative ranking that reflects the fast-changing face of the creative, marketing and production industry.
The 2023 edition of ADFEST Pattaya with the theme “RISE” was held between 23rd – 25th March 2023 at the regular venue, the Pattaya Exhibition Hall ( PEACH), at the Royal Cliff Hotels Group, Pattaya. And if one is to see the Winner Showcase, one would realise the extent of technology usage and integration in advertising and communication in every form and format. In a few years, the Pattaya Music festivals happened around the same time, adding to the entertainment quotient other than the fest being in Pattaya.
WINNER SHOWCASE
Post the festival, AdFest Pattaya has the winner showcase on its site. Where all the winners’ entries AV, film and board, are easily accessible with complete details. A few of the creatives are not showcased because the client has barred them due to some copyright issues.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Wednesday watching the winner showcase. I would recommend everyone interested in the field to see the brilliant work showcased there. Some of the brilliant works where technology and accessibility played a major role- in reflecting the change and trend included Tiger Beer, Unbranded Menu of McDonald’s, Consent – partnering to showcase lack of consent, Closeup- city of love, Crazy Bundy Mixes, Shizuoka Model City, Toyota Voice Watch, Adidas – Ravi limited edition and the print special- the Annhaar Newspaper election edition that never got printed. Watch all these and more at the winner showcase.
JURY INSIGHT SESSIONS
One of the things that makes it endearing is the 45-minute breakout stage sessions of Jury Insight. Where delegates can listen first-hand to in-depth and freeform discussions with some Lotus Awards juries across panels and learn the secrets of what makes some works great.
ADFEST PATTAYA CONNECT
AdFest Connect APP is another tool that encourages and facilitates networking and interaction. It shows every delegate’s name, position, company, city, and country unless they have chosen not to be part of the AdFest Connect. The connect does not divulge the email addresses but facilitates the initial email sending unless opted out by the delegate. It is just a connecting tool and does not guarantee a response.
WORKSHOP AND INDUSTRY SESSIONS
There are industry-specific learning sessions needing pre-registration and with limited seats. This is no different from other festival programs. Still, they seem more relevant and industry-inclusive, like the World Producers Summit – a forum for production company owners and stakeholders to gather and discuss specific issues encountered as the industry evolves and globalises. This forum is a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights and learn possible solutions to current and emerging business challenges. Sessions like ‘Creativity for Mobile-first-era, ‘Step into AR and Reels’ and ‘CG Metahumans And The Infinite New Frontier Of Communication.’
DIVERSIFIED JURY PANELS.
The eight Jury panels mostly follow the 8 Jury and 1 Jury president format. Interestingly, the panels are highly diversified in terms of agency and geographical representation and do not show any gender skew. There were 57 Jury members representing 18 cities at AdFest Pattaya 2023.
ADFEST PATTAYA EVOLVING WITH TIME.
The AdFest Pattaya has been evolving with time. There are, in total, 20 awards categories other than special awards. This time round, ‘The Commerce Lotus’, formerly the eCommerce Lotus, expands to include offline commerce in addition to eCommerce to celebrate creative and innovative solutions that enhance the consumer experience at source and drive business sales. The Digital & Social Lotus, formerly Digital Lotus, introduces various new sub-categories to reflect the fast-changing landscape of the digital world and social media. And PR Agency of the Year was added to the Special Awards line-up like Network, Independent Agency, Digital Agency, Media Agency, Production Company and Advertiser of the Year. In addition, the scoring criteria were updated.
YOUNG LOTUS.
On the lines of Cannes Young Lions, AdFest Pattaya also has a young Lotus workshop before the festival, and 2 participants selected through local regional representation represent each region. AAA India partners AdFest Pattaya to choose the Young Lotus representative from India.
ARCHIVES AND ENTRIES
All delegates have access to the AdFest Pattaya Archives, the winner showcase and the selected programme showcase. A brilliant resource that allows delegates to search and learn. And as a practice, AdFest Pattaya has a well-organised display of entries.
DELEGATE FEES – AN ISSUE FOR INDIAN DELEGATES.
The delegate Fee of Thai Bhaht 35K (83.5K INR) for the full, Thai Bhaht 22.5K ( 54K INR) for Young and Thai Bhaht 17.5K ( 42 K INR) for Students is a bit steep as there is an additional cost of Travel and stay that could be approximately INR 60K including return airfare.
NET NET
Adfest Pattaya, the regional Creativity festival, is a recommended AdFest. Though a bit costly, it is still manageable for young -Under 30- with early planning. India had 30 winners at AdFest Pattaya 2023 but not many delegates.
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