From the crazy colourful to the serenely beautiful, let’s take a look at the ADFEST 2020 Branded Entertainment Lotus and Effective Lotus winners.

“If there’s one thing that makes ADFEST’s Branded Entertainment Lotus category unique, it’s the creative diversity on show. From the crazy colourful to the serenely beautiful, every year brings spectacular new productions before ADFEST juries, because that’s what Asia Pac’s multitude of different audiences demand,” says James Burchill, Creative Founder, Rumble/Rumbletown Group, Brisbane, who was one of nine jurors overseeing the Branded Entertainment Lotus & Effective Lotus categories.

“I observed a return to wonderful story telling, designed to surprise and entertain, to touch the audience on an emotional level and leave a lasting impression of the brand.”

The jury awarded one Gold trophy in Branded Entertainment Lotus to TBWA\HAKUHODO Tokyo for Para Ping Pong Table’s ‘The Most Challenging Ping Pong’ table.

“This campaign connected us with Paralympians in a new and deeply thoughtful way,” explains Burchill. “Carefully engineering ping pong tables to demonstrate how each player’s physical challenge makes them even more unique was a wonderful insight. We felt the campaign would create a whole new respect for the players and the sport. The idea, including the Ping Pong tournament, was irresistible.”

Baris Gencel, Creative Director, Digital & Technology, Shanghai, also judged these categories and says: “Ping Pong Table was a simple idea and design piece that showed people the challenges faced by para-athletes. We have seen previous stunts in similar scenarios, but this one was brilliantly executed and made a difference for the people who need it.” 

Akae Wang, Executive Creative Director at Tencent in Shenzhen, adds: “We actually spent a little bit of time defining what Branded Entertainment is, especially in the context of film. I am always very skeptical of online videos that are longer than five minutes or even 10 minutes. I don't think a video can be produced by just throwing it on any video platform, even if it has good content. I'm more interested in seeing genuine media creativity and effective spending data than just a microfilm.”

Gencel agrees: “Honestly speaking, what worries me is the length of the content. We were watching films that were 10-20 minutes long. We need to really think about this seriously: our job is to make great commercials with a minimum duration. We need to tell stories in more efficient ways: short commercials can deliver effectiveness efficiently, because commercial length has diminishing returns, so I strongly believe we need to get back to our roots. We are in the digital age where attention spans and patience levels have changed. We need to catch attention and grab consumers with big bangs, this kind of effect you won’t create in a 10-minute film.”

The jury awarded two Gold trophies in the Effective Lotus category: Loong, Beijing for Tencent Foundation’s China Organ Donation, ‘A Team of One’ and Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Tohoku Shinkansen, ‘Get back, Tohoku!’. This poster series consists of an almost decade-long body of work, which demonstrates the client’s pure dedication to print design, season-after-season.

Regarding ‘A team of One’, Gencel says: “We have seen organ donation campaigns before but none like this. It is creative, authentic, true and very effective work. There were 8.26 million clicks and shares on WeChat in 3 days, and 1.36 million trending hashtags in 3 months.”

Regarding ‘Get back, Tohoku!’ Wang says: “This series of posters uses the quietest voice but has the power like a tsunami to touch every user who loves railroad travel. This campaign is already a classic, and years later, this set of works still continues to look at the scenery in those inconspicuous stations. If I could see it, I would love to steal it, really.”

Gencel explains: “The posters, now in their 9th year, have largely remained the same in concept. They typically feature minimal but powerful photos of trains with the slogan in small, bold letters. At the bottom of the poster, in small font, it reads ‘You can’t meet by e-mail. Meet on the rails’. Presenting trains as heroic figures that unite people and communities has lifted the spirits of a suffering nation and contributed to the recovery of the railway and the entire Tohoku region. The consistency of art direction and craft is brilliant. You won’t easily see campaigns as long lasting and effective over many years. It is a great example of how Effective Lotus winners should be not just about numbers but also creativity, craft and art where ideas move people and improve life and businesses.”

Or as Burchill says: “There may not be a literal campaign message, but we felt the enduring beauty of the train as depicted in each iconic print, is the message itself. This is one of those times when advertising truly is art.”