The Young Lotus Workshop is one of the highlights of ADFEST, a 3-day workshop that inspires and informs ambitious up-and-coming creatives from across the region. This year it was hosted by Google/YouTube with the theme, Unbound: The Next Era of Creative Culture and welcomed 30 rising young creatives from across 15 cities.
On Friday, ADFEST favourite, Google Presents Young Lotus Workshop 2026: UNBOUND: The Next Era of Creative Culture, showed delegates the creative work developed by the top 5 Young Lotus teams selected as finalists. The session included a summary of the creative brief and was presented by Wei Watthanasittha, Creative Partnership Lead from Google Southeast Asia, Bangkok.
This year’s winning team was announced at the second Award Presentation that concluded the ADFEST 2026 Festival. Congratulations toNicha Witayapaisitsan, Copywriter and Thirawat Prasertsang, Art Director from SOUR Bangkok and their work, Watch Like Me.
Young Lotus Workshop Manager, Wei Watthanasittha, Creative Partnership Lead, Google Southeast Asia, stated,
“First off, massive respect to all the teams. The energy was unmatched, the vibes were immaculate, and the fresh perspectives gave us all life. But the judges were unanimous: the winning work just hit different. They absolutely cracked the YouTube brand love brief with a distinguished approach that stood out in three key ways:
•Flipping the script on algorithms: While others viewed the algorithm as a liability or something to fight against, the winners understood the assignment. They treated it as a massive asset, actively using it to respond to exactly what Gen Z needs.
•Giving brand love a new aura: They gave YouTube a completely new energy when it comes to brand love, delivering it in the most unexpected forms. It wasn't just a broadcast; the work was inherently social, deeply conversational, totally actionable, and built to be sustainable.
•Elevated platform usage: Their use of the YouTube platform had a brilliant twist. They flexed a perfectly thought-out ecosystem—starting with a deep respect for privacy preferences, which is a non-negotiable for Gen Z. From there, they transformed YouTube into a strategic canvas, seamlessly weaving in creator culture and celebrity amplification to scale the impact.”
Congratulations too, to ADFEST 2026’s four other Young Lotus finalists:
GURUGRAM:Iman Sengupta, Senior Art Director and Kokila Srivastava, Creative Group Head: Havas Creative
HO CHI MINH:Hai Anh Pham, Senior Copywriter, and Tien Bui Duc, Art Director: PURPOSE.ANT
SEOUL:Hyerin Dho, Art Director, and Jaehyun Hwang, Art Director: Cheil Korea
TOKYO:Hiroaki Iwai, Communication Creator and Taiki Tsuno, Creative Planner: Dentsu Inc.
All the five finalist teams, including the team from Bangkok also had the opportunity to win The Popular Vote. This is tallied from delegate votes after the end of the session, Google Presents Young Lotus Workshop 2026: UNBOUND: The Next Era of Creative Culture, where all the finalists presented their work to ADFEST delegates.
Nicha Witayapaisitsan, Copywriter and Thirawat Prasertsang, Art Director from SOUR Bangkok, and their work, Watch Like Me, also won the The Young Lotus Popular Vote.
Geia Lopez, Head of Creative and Creator Partnerships, Google Southeast Asia, chaired the program. In the video below, he describes his enthusiasm for how these young creatives are adopting technology and his surprise at the outstanding quality of their work.
