Rebecca Carrasco is one of Australia’s most respected creative leaders, so we were honoured when she agreed to join our jury at ADFEST 2019. We asked her to share her tips on picking up metal in the Audio Lotus and Film Lotus categories.

Since joining ADFEST as a judge in March, Carrasco has been officially promoted to Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney from her former role as Deputy CD.

You judged Audio and Film and ADFEST 2019. In what ways does our region excel in these formats ... and where could we do better?

Interestingly, there were quite a few pieces, which were beautifully told stories but the actual ideas weren’t as strong. In fact, this became a talking point for the jury. At the end of the day we’re always going to award the strongest ideas, which are beautifully told; the idea still needs to really deliver. Finding a lateral way to make that unique and powerful story genuinely connect with the brand is the opportunity we all move forward with. I think all the Gold winners in Film and Audio do that exceptionally well.

What made the Gold winners stand out in the Audio category?

The Gold winners in Audio both stood out for quite different reasons. One was a beautiful radio idea created by McCann Worldgroup Philippines, where you’re unwittingly led down the garden-path into the life of a mad-man, for an online book store called Fully Booked.

The other was a beautiful audio idea called ‘Project Revoice’ by BWM Dentsu in Sydney. Through the manipulation of sound, they gave back a voice that was a symbol of hope to so many ASL sufferers, before it was finally silenced by ASL disease.

What made the Gold winners stand out in the Film category? What were you looking for as a jury?

The best ideas won out in the end, two of which were PSA spots: ‘Disgusting Stories’ by TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno Manila, and ‘Speak Up’ by Leo Burnett Malaysia. The other one was a big brand ad: ‘Friendshit’ for K Plus by GREYnJ United, Bangkok.

There was discussion around the balance between PSA ads and bigger client work when it came to awarding Gold, but a powerful idea is a powerful idea, and that’s what guided us. Every organisation that partners an agency to tell their story deserves their story to be well told; charity or commercial brand. And these three were all exceptionally well told.

Did you have a favourite?

‘Disgusting Stories’ was a particularly powerful idea. Using the actual illustrations that sexually abused children have drawn to communicate what happened to them, to communicate how profoundly wrong this whole issue is, creates an incredibly confronting message, which stays with you. Actually, it just rips your heart out. Had we been able to award a Grande to a PSA, I don’t think we would have stopped at Gold.

If you didn't award any Grande winners for either category, why not?

A Grande is a very important award. It has to be given to work that the jury believes is beyond Gold. Not all of our Golds were eligible for Grande in these categories as the PSA Grande is voted separately by the Jury Presidents, drawing from all the Gold PSA winners across the show. The remaining eligible work within these categories were unanimously regarded as very strong Golds.

* Submit your work to the 2020 ADFEST Lotus Awards in the Audio Lotus and Film Lotus categories before Friday 13th December 2019.