Lotus Roots is an
important award that’s unique to ADFEST. So, we’ve compiled a gallery of this
year’s winners to celebrate the region’s most culturally insightful work.
Lotus Roots celebrates work that draws on the different histories and cultures of the countries and people of Asia Pacific and MENA regions.
At the ADFEST 2019 Lotus Awards, from
146 entries, there were just six Lotus Roots winners and one Grande Lotus Roots
winner. If you’d like to enter the Lotus Roots category at ADFEST 2020, the
deadline closes in December!
2019 GRANDE LOTUS ROOTS WINNER – FP7 McCann Dubai for Babyshop ‘Al Umobuwah: Putting ‘Mum’ into ‘Parenthood’
FP7 McCann Dubai
created a new Arabic word for its client Babyshop, giving mothers across the
Middle East an equal place in the Arabic word for “Parenthood”, challenging
deep-rooted biases and conventions in the process.
“This brave new word
champions Mums, and has woven itself into the vernacular, and is on the verge
of being included in the Arabic dictionary,” explained Mark Tutssel, Grand Jury
President at ADFEST 2019 and former Global Chief Creative Officer at Leo
Burnett Worldwide, Chicago.
LOTUS ROOTS WINNER – Colenso BBDO, Auckland for Spark New Zealand ‘Kupu’
Languages die out
every day, so Colenso BBDO worked with Spark to revitalize the te reo Māori
language in New Zealand through an app called Kupu.
Using machine
learning, Kupu translates objects in the world around you into te reo Māori in
real-time. It combines Google Cloud Vision with Translate APIs, supported by
knowledge from Te Aka Māori Dictionary.
LOTUS ROOTS WINNER – Hakuhodo Kettle Inc., Tokyo for Takasaki City ‘Red Restaurants List’
To conserve endangered
restaurants in Takasaki City run by elderly chefs, Hakuhodo Kettle Inc. created
a gourmet guide called ‘Red Restaurants List’. To make the list, the restaurant
owner must be old with no successor in sight. The restaurant itself must be
worn out, and serving food that’s too delicious to let fade away.
The guide has received
attention across the country, and is even spreading to other parts of Japan to
preserve the country’s most endangered – yet delicious – restaurants.
LOTUS ROOTS WINNER – Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Kobe Newspaper ‘Since 1995’
Dentsu Inc. helped
Kobe Newspaper to prepare residents for an earthquake with a beautifully
designed two-page spread showing what to pack in case of emergency. It’s a
brilliant conversation starter for families, too.
LOTUS ROOTS WINNER – Leo Burnett Colombo / Leo Burnett Toronto for JAT Paints ‘Petal Paint’
This campaign pays
homage to Sri Lanka’s rich heritage of temple art by extracting pigment from discarded
temple flower offerings to create a range of safe, long-lasting paints. These
paints were then used for the creation and restoration of temple art.
Aelian Gunawardene,
Managing Director of JAT Holdings said, “Every aspect of this campaign has been
inspired by our commitment to innovation and sustainability. We are thrilled to
have partnered Leo Burnett Sri Lanka and Leo Burnett Toronto to win these
accolades at the prestigious ADFEST platform.”
LOTUS ROOTS WINNER – R/GA Tokyo / Shiseido Co. Ltd., Tokyo for Shiseido ‘My Crayon Project’
To show kids in Japan there are many different shades of skin, R/GA Tokyo worked with Shiseido to create a set of crayons featuring each child’s own skin colour. It’s worth hunting down the case study on R/GA's website to watch how the kids respond when they receive their new crayons – adorable!
Rabbit Digital Group Company Limited, Bangkok for Siam Commercial Bank ‘Mae-ma-nee Money Solution’
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) launched the “Mae Manee Money Solution” campaign in November 2019 to raise awareness of its SCB EASY PAY QR Code. SCB worked with Rabbit to create the ‘Mae Manee’ character – a digital-generation ‘nang kwak’ or spirit, based on the belief that she has the power to beckon customers.
* Submit your work to the 2020 ADFEST Lotus Awards in the Lotus Roots category before Friday 13th December 2019 (remotely judged categories) or Friday 20th December 2019 (all other categories).