MAM
ADFEST 2016 confirms 57 jurors from 18 cities
MUMBAI: ADFEST has announced that some of the world’s most celebrated creative professionals will be joining ADFEST 2016 as jurors including 57 professionals from 18 cities: Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Beirut, Colombo, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo.
Introducing the jury panel for Film & Radio Lotus:
• Ben Welsh, Creative Chairman, Asia, M&C Saatchi, Sydney (Jury President)
• Erick Rosa, Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe Singapore, Singapore
• Jennifer Hu, Chief Creative officer, Ogilvy & Mather Taiwan, Taipei
• Joo Yu Kyung, Creative Director, Innocean Worldwide, Seoul
• Malek Ghorayeb, Regional Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett MENA, Beirut
• Santi Suwanvalaikorn, Founder & Executive Creative Director, Youngsanti, Bangkok
• Yoshimitsu Sawamoto, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Inc., Tokyo
The jury panel for Design Lotus & Print Craft Lotus:
• Yoshihiro Yagi, Creative Director, Dentsu Inc., Tokyo (Jury President)
• Chutivat Cherdchoo, Executive Creative Director, Visionary Group, Bangkok
• Guy Venables, Founder, GUY>ENABLES, Sydney
• Ivan Hadywibowo, Chief Creative Officer, J. Walter Thompson, Jakarta
• Sanket Pathare, Senior Creative Director, McCann Erickson India, Mumbai
• Sing Lin, Creative Director & Partner, BeWater, Shanghai
• Trevor Kennedy, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Solutions GROUP, Colombo
The jury panel for Media Lotus, Branded Entertainment Lotus & Content Lotus:
• Josy Paul, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, Mumbai (Jury President)
• Darren Watson, Executive Creative Director – APAC, FITCH, Singapore
• Evan Teng, Managing Director, J. Walter Thompson Taiwan, Taipei
• Georg Warga, Creative Director, Filmmaker & Founder, GOODSTEIN, Shanghai
• Patrick Baron, Executive Creative Director, McCann Melbourne, Melbourne
• Sarnchatt Chansrakao, Managing Director, Dentsu Media Thailand, Bangkok
• Sokichi Nakazawa, Executive Manager of Data Driven Media Marketing Center, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc., Tokyo
The jury panel for Promo Lotus and Effective Lotus:
• Chris Chiu, Singapore (Jury President)
• Anu Joseph, Executive Creative Director, Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai
• Dani Richa, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, BBDO MENA, Pakistan & Africa, Dubai
• Eric Cruz, Executive Creative Director, AKQA Shanghai, Shanghai
• Jeff Ma, Marketing Vice President, Greater China, The Woolmark Company, Shanghai
• Joyce Deng, Marketing Vice President, Yintai Yushen Business Management Co., Ltd., Beijing
• Tara Ford, Creative Director, WhybinTBWA Group, Melbourne
The jury panel for Integrated Lotus, INNOVA Lotus and Lotus Roots:
• Jeremy Craigen, Global Chief Creative Officer, Innocean Worldwide, Seoul ( Jury President)
• Ben Welsh, Creative Chairman, Asia, M&C Saatchi, Sydney
• Chee Keong (CK) Tan, Group Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
• Chris Chiu, Singapore
• Josy Paul, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, Mumbai
• Richard Yu, Chief Creative Officer & China Network Creative Consultant, ADK Taiwan, Taipei
• Sihabutr Xoomsai, Film Director, Triton Film, Bangkok
• Valerie Cheng, Head of Creative Shop, Southeast Asia, Facebook, Singapore
• Yoshihiro Yagi, Creative Director, Dentsu Inc., Tokyo
“Our jurors arrived in Thailand yesterday to begin debating this year’s entries. It is now their responsibility to choose the work that is driving our industry forward, we’d like to thank them for the hard work they will perform over the next few days,” says ADFEST president Jimmy Lam.
ADFEST 2016 will run from 16th to 19th March at the Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
