ADFEST 2024 sessions continue to enlighten with insights and ideas from top tier speakers. Newly confirmed sessions include the ingredients and ideas behind an unmissable campaign that became a movement, and everything you need to know about scannable brands. There’s also an exploration of the power to cut through the clutter that surges when AI and human ingenuity collaborate in TikTok, and how AI is stripping the limits of video creation.
These enlightening sessions should not be missed:
 
THURSDAY 21 MARCH
10.40-11.15
Alchemy in 3D: Crafting the Future of Digital Narratives
Saffaan Qadir
Creative Director, Paulus, Seoul
Kyungsin Kim
CEO, Paulus, Seoul
 
In an era where digital and physical realms intertwine, storytelling is undergoing a transformative shift. This session delves into the key trends that are impacting that shift - the democratisation of technology, the rise of personalised content, and the blurring of lines between reality and digital artistry. These trends are reshaping not just content creation and consumption but also our perception of the world.

At the centre of this evolution is 3D video production, historically challenged by the need for technical skills and high-end equipment to produce high-quality content. RVDO emerges as a revolutionary solution, simplifying complex 3D content creation. The session will explore how RVDO and similar innovations are reshaping the digital content landscape, hinting at a future where technology integrates with emerging marketplaces and Web 3.0 technologies. These advancements promise a future where creativity is free of limiting barriers.

Saffaan Qadir is a Creative Director at Paulus in Seoul, South Korea. He has worked with clients as diverse as Hyundai, Zespri, McCain Foods, Celltrion, Maeil, Dot, Babitalk, UNDP, International Olympics Committee, and Good People International, and is the top ranked Creative Director in the Asia-Pacific region according to the One Show 2023 rankings. Kyungsin ‘Pablo’ Kim is the award-winning creative who established creative agency and production company, Paulus, in Seoul. His compelling narratives and design-centric solutions for global brands, public entities, international organisations, and NGOs have won international acclaim. He is now focusing his talents on the domain of deep-tech with the aim of developing breakthrough solutions for emerging content creation needs.
 
FRIDAY 22 MARCH
15.40-16.15
Human-AI Collab: Cultivating Emotional Intelligence in the Digital Landscape
Josy Paul, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, Mumbai 
Guan Hin Tay, Creative Chairman, BBDO Singapore, Singapore
 
Creativity isn’t just about producing something new. It’s about the ideas that spring up from nowhere, the sudden inspirations, and the intuitive leaps that don’t always follow logical patterns. The human element matters. This is not to say that generative AI is an adversary to human creativity. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Josy Paul and Guan Hin Tay will use stories, anecdotes and personal experiences to underline the power of deep listening, confessions, radical empathy, collide and tapping into memory structures to unlock ideas that can be enhanced by AI. In essence, it’s about balancing the limitless potential of generative AI with the nuanced, unpredictable, and beautiful chaos of human creativity.

Josy started BBDO India from the backseat of his car in 2008. His leadership has since achieved accolades such as Creative Agency Head of The Year by the Indian Advertising Association (IAA) and in 2020, he was inducted into the Advertising Club Calcutta's Hall of Fame. Before BBDO, Josy established the challenger agency, David, for Ogilvy in June 2000, which has now grown into a global network.

With a wealth of experience and a knack for digital strategies, Guan Hin has consistently elevated the brand appeal of top-tier clients such as Visa, Audi, P&G, and Unilever. His innovative approaches not only enhance market presence but also provide effective solutions to complex business challenges. His has earned him more than 350 awards.  

His newly launched book by Penguin, Collide: Embracing Conflict to Boost Creativity, became one of Amazon's best-selling in less than 24 hours.
 
SATURDAY 23 MARCH
9.30-10.05
Serve the Underserved
David Dahan
President & Managing Director, The&Partnership APAC, & Managing Director, WPP@Unilever 
Louis Piereck
Global Brand Director, Vaseline at Unilever, Singapore
 
This session is the story of a campaign that made Thailand take notice. To stand out, you need to create unmissable work. Work that you not only believe in but is also legitimate to a brand – especially when you’re working for the world’s oldest skincare brand, Vaseline.

So when two opportunities arose in Thailand, Vaseline had an opportunity to tap into its heritage and serve the underserved. Vaseline knew that ensuring that both ambitions were achieved was going to require more than just a campaign. Instead, it created a product and a donation scheme to ignite a movement.

David Dahan 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. David now leads The&Partnership and is also 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.

Louis Piereck has been helping brands and teams achieve their purpose and growth potential for over 20 years, based in Brazil, Chile, China, USA, South Africa and Singapore. A true global citizen, he connects East – West and believes that magic happens when you combine vision, great ideas, craftmanship and a passionate team.
 
10.05-10.40
Storytelling in the Next Creative Renaissance: AI Meets Human Ingenuity
Anny Havercroft
APAC Marketing Solutions Lead & Head of Global Business Marketing SEA, Singapore
 
We know from research the entertainment-centric nature of content on the platform drives 15% higher brand affinity and 14% higher purchase intent. But with the economic environment uncertain, marketers are striving to do more with less and the obvious reflex is to scale back budgets on creative ideas. Decades of marketing hindsight, however, have demonstrated that brands that disrupt in a downturn are rewarded. True impact today isn't about adaptation, it's about cutting through the clutter to create and foster meaningful stories that enrich culture. This approach takes boldness, and that often means embracing new tools, including those powered by AI. This session explores the TikTok technology that works hand-in-hand with human ingenuity, allowing the best minds in the industry to return to doing what they really love - create.

Anny Havercroft leads APAC Marketing Solutions and is Head of Global Business Marketing SEA at TikTok. Prior to joining TikTok, she has been Director of Brand Innovation & Marketing at Yahoo as well as leading digital strategy and innovation in leading UK and Australia media agencies consulting to major companies such as Procter & Gamble, Dell, Universal Pictures and Allianz. Being a passionate supporter of startups and scaleups, Anny is also active in these communities as a member of advisory boards and backer of female entrepreneurs.
 
10.40-11.15
D&AD Annual Trend Report 
Donal Keenan
Awards & Festival Director, D&AD, London
 
What trends dominated the D&AD Pencil winning work in 2023? What insights led the conversations in the jury rooms? What has been the impact of wider cultural and societal shifts in the world at large? All of this will be covered in Donal Keenan’s D&AD Annual Trend Report, compiled from the knowledge of 300+ world-leading designers, advertising experts and skilled creatives who judged over 12,000 entries across 40 categories in 2023. For work to win at D&AD, jurors needed to see flawless execution supporting the big, bold idea. This year, only two winners took home the ultimate Black Pencil and just 69 entries were awarded a Yellow Pencil.
Donal has risen through the ranks of D&AD since 2007 to become Awards & Festival Director of D&AD’s Global awards and festival programmes. He has overseen many developments in the expansion of D&AD’s Awards programme and has been involved in D&AD Impact from in its origins in 2012 to leading the current development and running of Impact Awards and accelerator programme, which seeks out and supports initiatives with the potential to drive positive impact in our society today. He was also a consultant managing the development and operational launch of the Kyoorius Awards in India, a now well-established regional Awards rewarding the best in Indian design and advertising.

Don’t miss this opportunity to fire up your knowledge. Get your tickets to say HI at ADFEST 2024 to celebrate “Human Intelligence,” during 21 – 23 March. Register now at www.ADFEST.com
 
ADFEST is a non-profit-making entity that believes passionately in its role to nurture and support the creative industry in the Asia Pacific and MENA region. It is one of only 8 regional creative festivals included in the WARC Creative 100 Rankings.