Ad Stars 2020 Winners Revealed

AD STARS is pleased to congratulate this year’s Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners, which were chosen from 20,028 entries from 60 countries. 

Levi Slavin, chief creative officer at Colenso BBDO, New Zealand was an executive judge at the AD STARS 2020 Awards. He says: “Overall, we did get a sense of the power of creativity through the work we judged this year. As a tool and weapon, applied properly, creativity can solve anything.” 

Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, the Final Jury voted on winners remotely this year. Slavin explains: “The process was more difficult than people might realise, but nobody on the jury once said, ‘Let’s not do this.’ Everybody felt it was critically important to celebrate creativity and its power. Any metal awarded at AD STARS this year is a career highlight – all winners should be very proud.” 

Valerie Madon, chief creative officer, Asia at VMLY&R also joined AD STARS 2020 as an executive judge. She says: “It’s really exciting to see that some of the best works this year came from markets like the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka. We see more culturally relevant work getting recognition for being insightfully inspired: the impact is clear, even if the executions can be simple.” 

11 Grand Prix trophies were awarded to nine creative companies: 

• 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA: ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder (Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix) and ‘Next 100’ for NFL (Film Grand Prix) 
• Ogilvy Australia: ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum! (Mobile Grand Prix and Social & Influencer Grand Prix) 
• Dentsu Inc., Japan: ‘Pocky THE GIFT’ for Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. (Design Grand Prix) 
• Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘Belted Survivors’ for NZ Transport Agency (Diverse Insights Grand Prix) 
• Alt.vfx, Australia: ‘Dinosaur Vs Unicorn’ for AA Insurance (Film Grand Prix) 
• Walt Disney Company, United States: ‘Pixar Street View’ for Walt Disney World (Outdoor Grand Prix)
• Flock Creative Network, Indonesia: ‘Mad Cousin’ for McDonald's / PT. Rekso Nasional Food (Print Grand Prix) 
• Jung von matt, Germany: ‘For Seasons composed by climate data’ for NDR Elbphilhamornie Orchestra Hamburg, Germany (Radio & Audio Grand Prix) 
• WPP Marketing Communications, Thailand: ‘Thai Stay Home Miles Exchange’ for Thai Airways International (Pivot Grand Prix) 

Film & Video Stars 

In Film, 72andSunny Los Angeles, United States won Grand Prix for ‘Next 100’ for NFL. Alt.vfx, Australia also won Grand Prix for ‘Dinosaur Vs Unicorn’ for AA Insurance. 

“Next 100 is a film that creates value in the experience beyond the screen. The production craft of the film is exceptional. It reminded me of the power that one piece of visual expression can have to move mass markets and entire nations,” explains Takahiro Hosoda, executive creative director at TBWA\HAKUHODO and a Final Judge of the Film & Video Stars categories. 

“Dinosaur VS Unicorn brings a simple idea to life through production craft particularly, leveraging the CGI to the level of a feature film,” says Damisa Ongsiriwattana, co-founder/executive creative director at Sour Bangkok, who also judged this category. 

There were 10 Gold winners awarded across the Film category: 

• 72andSunny Amsterdam, Netherlands: ‘Fanta – In The Name of Play’ for The Coca- Cola Company, won 3 Golds 
• Wunderman Thompson, United Arab Emirates: ‘Dear Neighbor’ for Bose, won 2 Golds 
• OTTO Australia: ‘Dolly's Dream - Are your words doing damage?’ for Dolly's Dream 
• Dentsu Inc. Japan: ‘Designing Tokyo’ for Mori Building Co., Ltd. 
• Rafineri, Turkey: ‘LOSEV: DEAR BROTHER’ for LOSEV 
• Cheil Germany: ‘Stripped of Security’ for Samsung Electronics Germany 
• DDB Sydney, Australia: ‘Up, Up and Toupee’ for Virgin Australia. 

In the Video Stars category, two Golds were awarded to R/GA Shanghai, China for ‘Nike Dark Horse’, created for the Nike Run Club; and FCB India for ‘The Punishing Signal’, created for Mumbai Police. 

“The AD STARS Awards focus on creative diversity and the importance thereof. It's meaningful that the creative is authentically local, while having the power to resonate globally. These two pieces were great examples of that. They delivered truly local messages, while also embodying universal human truths,” says Hosoda. 

Ongsiriwattana adds: “The Punishing Signal reflects the culture and context of India. The idea is also simple enough to change consumer behaviour, more or less. Finally, the storytelling execution is so entertaining.” 

Design & Print 

In Design, the Grand Prix was awarded to Dentsu Inc., Japan for ‘Pocky THE GIFT’, created for Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 

Fabio Caveira, senior creative / art director at OPPO China, led the Design & Print categories as executive judge. He says: “This category showed the strength of design on the Asian continent. The Grand Prix combines simplicity and incredible beauty and was a unanimous decision of the jury.” 

The judges awarded seven Gold trophies in Design: 

• FCB Chicago, USA: ‘The Gun Violence History Book’ for Illinois Council for Handgun Violence, won 2 Golds 
• Dentsu Inc., Japan: ‘Pocky THE GIFT’, created for Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 
• 360i, USA: ‘His Dark Materials - Personal Daemons’ for 360i 
• Dentsu Inc., Japan: ‘ Everyone's an Olympian’ for Japanese Olympic Committee and Consortium Members: Dentsu, Nomura, Dentsu Live 
• 33 and Branding, China: ‘Hairstyle Figure’ for Beijing Shanmu Culture Co., Ltd 
• Hakuhodo, Japan: ‘toio & toio Collection’ for Sony Interactive Entertainment. 

In Print, the Grand Prix was awarded to Flock Creative Network, Indonesia for its ‘Mad Cousin’ campaign created for Indonesia McDonald's / PT. Rekso Nasional Food. 

Caveira said: “I think what characterises both Grand Prix campaigns is the simplicity of the idea and being connected, most of the time, to people's reality: you can see yourself in the situations shown.” 

The judges also awarded 4 Golds in Print: 

• Flock Creative Network, Indonesia: ‘No Kid Can Resist’ for Indonesia McDonald's / PT. Rekso Nasional Food, won 2 Golds 
• Dentsu Creative X Inc., Japan: ‘Language Sanctuary - Ad Space for Protecting Endangered Language’ for Okinawa Times 
• Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘Belted Survivors’ for NZ Transport Agency. 

Pivot, Public Service Advertising, Diverse Insights, Outdoor, Place Brand, Radio & Audio 

This year, AD STARS introduced the ‘Pivot’ category to celebrate campaigns that have amplified and repositioned brands in response to COVID-19. The Grand Prix Pivot winner is WPP Marketing Communications in Thailand for ‘Thai Stay Home Miles Exchange’, created for Thai Airways International.

Levi Slavin, chief creative officer at Colenso BBDO, New Zealand led these categories as executive judge. He says: “I think ‘Pivot’ is a wonderful idea for a category. It’s obviously very timely given the current state of the world, but it shows how agencies can mobilise any organisation to be able to ‘pivot’, which should be best practice for the industry.” 

Pancho González, chief creative officer at Inbrax in Chile, also judged this category. He adds: “‘Thai Stay Home Miles Exchange’ knew how to understand the current context and use it to its advantage, in a very natural and organic way. The airlines have always invited you to fly and for one to do the opposite is simply positive, especially if we are in a pandemic.” 

Geumbyul Bae, group creative director, INNOCEAN Worldwide, Korea, says: “This idea has made the entire nation a potential customer, and it treats the coronavirus more cheerfully than any other work. The idea of turning a crisis into an opportunity with very simple and minimum cost – that is the main point of judging the Pivot category, and also the role of the advertising industry in post-coronavirus era.” 

In Public Service Advertising (PSA), there was one Grand Prix winner: Serviceplan Korea’s ‘Dot Translate - The First Braille Translator Based on AI’ for Dot Incorporation. 

There were also three Gold trophies awarded: 

• 72andSunny Amsterdam, Netherlands: ‘HackYourFuture – Behind the Source’ for HackYourFuture 
• Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar
• jung von matt, Germany: ‘For Seasons composed by climate data’ for NDR Elbphilhamornie Orchestra Hamburg, Germany. 

Slavin says: “One campaign that I was very excited about was ‘HackYourFuture’. This was such an elegant way to address the bias that refugees face when seeking employment. The agency turned the source code into incredible imagery to tell the story of the coders behind the site. It’s the perfect delivery of a simple idea.” 

In Diverse Insights, Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand won Grand Prix for ‘Belted Survivors’ for NZ Transport Agency. 

“No matter where you’re from, you can look at this campaign and understand it – even though it is absolutely tailored to a particular audience. It shows the power of having a well-understood audience. Campaigns like these absolutely do travel: it can be even more powerful to focus your ideas on particular communities,” says Slavin. 

There were also two Gold trophies awarded in Diverse Insights: 

• Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘The Unsaid’ for NZ Transport Agency 
• ADK Creative One, Japan: Avatar Robot Café for Ory Laboratory. 

“‘The Unsaid’ is such a delicate and well-understood campaign, it feels like it’s coming from the audience itself. Avatar Robot Café is also a lovely idea: the agency came up with a way to provide mobility through these little robots, it’s very sweet,” says Slavin. “For me, Diverse Insights is one of the most important categories at AD STARS. Instead of doing homogenised work to communicate with global audiences, championing Diverse Insights becomes a conversation between a brand and its customers no matter where they’re from. It legitimises and honours their environment. It is a wonderful category to judge, and the winners should all be very proud.” 

In Outdoor, Walt Disney Company won the Grand Prix for ‘Pixar Street View’. 

“I loved this idea and I loved the experience. As effortless as it looks, we shouldn’t underestimate how hard it must have been to make this a permanent fixture in Street View. It is an idea I genuinely wish I’d done,” says Slavin. 

Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand also won Gold in Outdoor for ‘Belted Survivors’. 

There are no Grand Prix or Gold winners in the Place Brand category this year. 

In Radio & Audio, jung von matt, Germany won Grand Prix for ‘For Seasons composed by climate data’ for NDR Elbphilhamornie Orchestra Hamburg, Germany. 

“This is a lovely use of data and experience. By using real climate change data to recompose the ‘Four Seasons’ symphony, it makes a profound statement about the impact of humans on the environment in a relatively short period of time. It becomes a very chaotic piece, but that’s part of the experience – it’s familiar and unfamiliar in the one breath. It’s a wonderful piece of work,” says Slavin. 

Integrated, Innovation, Mobile, Data Insights, Social & Influencer 

There were no Grand Prix or Gold winners in the Integrated and Innovation categories this year. 

“We saw a lot of interesting, fresh thinking, but we were missing that one true breakthrough,” says Sascha Kuntze, chief creative officer, BBH Singapore, who led these categories as executive judge. 

In Mobile, Ogilvy Australia won Grand Prix for ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum! 

Kuntze says: “This campaign is such a fresh way to take something so mundane as a delivery app, and play with internet culture to invite people to find something. I know how hard it is for any restaurant, especially a QSR (quick service restaurant), to change their product. This stood out because it was driving business, it was cheeky, gives people a reason to talk about you and lasts longer than one day or one week of PR.” 

There were also four Gold winners in Mobile: 

• Ogilvy Australia, Australia: ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum! 
• Bonsey Jaden, Malaysia: ‘Blink’ for Xiao En 
• 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA: ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder 
• Cheil Germany: ‘Ta(l)king Down the Invisible Wall’ for Diskutier Mit Mir e.V. 

“To me, Mobile was the strongest of all the categories we judged. The winners show that the industry needs to be mobile-first. If you have an existing app, why not use it in an interesting way; what else can you do with it to drive engagement? Swipe Night and KFC Secret Menu both do this well – it’s really smart and something to focus on more in mobile,” explains Kuntze. 

AD STARS introduced the Data Insights category in 2018. There are three Gold winners: 

• Grey Malaysia: ‘WWF Your Plastic Diet’ for WWF Malaysia
• Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘The Unsaid’ for NZ Transport Agency 
• jung von matt, Germany: ‘For Seasons composed by climate data’ for NDR Elbphilhamornie Orchestra Hamburg, Germany. 

“Usually, data insights involve a lot of numbers. With ‘The Unsaid’, it is about stories, and using them to get a point across. It’s just very engaging and a smart way to get a lot of engagement with very little investment, simply by taking stories that are out there and packaging them in an interesting way. As for ‘Your Plastic Diet’, I had seen this organically outside of our advertising bubble, so it clearly worked, which is great – that’s the whole point of what we do, so well done,” says Kuntze. 

In Social & Influencer, Ogilvy Australia won Grand Prix for ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum! 

There are also five Golds in this category:

• Ogilvy Australia, Australia: ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum! 
• Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘The Unsaid’ for NZ Transport Agency 
• Ogilvy Singapore: ‘Please Arrest Me’ for RIT Foundation Singapore 
• WPP Marketing Communications, Thailand: ‘Lonely Rambutan’ for Malee Group 
• Leo Burnett Taiwan: ‘Souvenirs From Travel’ for China Airlines Taiwan. 

Kuntze says: “AD STARS allows some of the smaller, lesser known markets to shine with their thinking and work, and I think some of the Gold winners are testament to that. ‘Please Arrest Me’ is clever, cheeky, and very provocative and brave for the region, which doesn’t usually do well with provocative work. ‘Lonely Rambutan’ is a really cheeky way of getting an old-fashioned product out there and repackaging it for the modern world and making it sharable. It’s not just a one-off idea but something that actually works.” 

Brand Experience & Activation, Creative eCommerce, Direct, Media, PR 

Valerie Madon, chief creative officer, Asia at VMLY&R, Singapore led these categories as executive judge. Overall, she says: “It’s very reassuring to see fresh ideas that leverage tech in a more meaningful and entertaining manner with a clear idea that’s simple and engaging, not technology for technology sake.” 

In Brand Experience & Activation, there are two Grand Prix winners: 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA’s ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder and Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates for ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar. 

There are also five Gold winners: 

• 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA: ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder 
• DDB Group, New Zealand: ‘Lotto - LO5T’ for Lotto New Zealand 
• McCann Worldgroup MENA, United Arab Emirates: ‘Astronomical Sales’ for Mastercard 
• Walt Disney Company, USA: ‘Pixar Street View’ for Walt Disney World 
• DDB Sydney, Australia: ‘The Burnt Christmas Tree’ for Red Cross Australia. 

“Personally, my favourite piece of work is ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder because a great idea today is expected to leverage technology but also not lose sight of the emotional reward at the end of the engagement. It’s well executed and more importantly, its app function is at the core of the idea,” says Madon. 

This year, AD STARS introduced a new category, Creative eCommerce, to celebrate ideas that optimise the customer journey through creative eCommerce solutions. McCann Worldgroup MENA, United Arab Emirates, won Gold for ‘Astronomical Sales’ for Mastercard. 

“I was really excited to notice the Creative eCommerce category, as I work for Geometry, and eCommerce is a big part of our world. ‘Astronomical Sales’ for Mastercard stood out because of its ‘damn-I-wish-I-did-that’ simplicity and... well... stellar brand fit,” explains Gabriela Lungu, Global Creative Director at Geometry UK and founder and creative lead at Wings Creative Leadership Lab, who also judged this category. 

In Direct, there are four Golds awarded: 

• McCann Worldgroup MENA, United Arab Emirates: ‘Astronomical Sales’ for Mastercard 
• TBWA\Sri Lanka: ‘Aura Incense Barricade’ for D'LAS International Sri Lanka 
• Wunderman Thompson (WPP Marketing Communications, Thailand): ‘Thai Stay Home Miles Exchange’ for Thai Airways International 
• Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar. 

In Media, there are six Gold winners: 

• 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA: ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder 
• Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar
• DDB Sydney, Australia: ‘The Burnt Christmas Tree’ for Red Cross Australia 
• DDB Group, New Zealand: ‘Lotto - LO5T’ for Lotto New Zealand 
• TBWA\Sri Lanka: ‘Aura Incense Barricade’ for D'LAS International Sri Lanka 
• Ogilvy Pakistan: ‘Digital Birth Registration’ for Telenor 4G. 

In PR, there are five Gold winners: 

• DDB Sydney, Australia: ‘The Burnt Christmas Tree’ for Red Cross Australia, won two Golds 
• Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar 
• Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘Belted Survivors’ for NZ Transport Agency 
• FCB India: ‘The Punishing Signal’ for Mumbai Police. 

“‘The Burnt Christmas Tree’ has shock value. It makes a sharp point. It brings awareness and creates empathy. It’s timely and relevant. It generated a lot of money to help people who lost a lot of things to the fire. It’s a homerun. Good on the team who made it and the clients who ran it,” says Terence Leong, executive creative director at R/GA Shanghai, who judged these categories. 

The13th AD STARS Festival was originally scheduled to take place in Busan, Korea in August, and was tentatively postponed until October. “Unfortunately, due to a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in Korea, the AD STARS 2020 Awards ceremony will now be replaced with an online showcase of winning work. We hope everyone will enjoy this incredible collection of fresh, meaningful and impactful work when it launches on October 22nd,” says Hwan-Jin Choi, chairperson of the AD STARS Executive Committee. 

“As a festival with ‘humanity’ at its heart as a core value, we are proud to see so many creators applying their creativity to real-world problems. The AD STARS 2020 Awards truly prove that creativity shines amid crisis – congratulations to this year’s winners.” 

The AD STARS 2020 Awards winners’ showcase will be released on October 22nd via the official AD STARS website. For more information, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn or visit adstars.org