MAD STARS 2023 Day 3: APAC’s Festival of Advertising Goes Out on a High

Some of the world's leading advertising and marketing minds converged in Busan, South Korea this week for the 2023 MAD STARS Festival.

Last but certainly not least, the festival’s final day went off with a bang, opening with Cheil Worldwide creative director Seongphil Hwang’s optimistic but thoughtful speech, ‘Creativity for a Better World’.

“Advertising has gone beyond the simple function of conveying information, and now creates new value within the consumer's living environment,” Seonghpil said.

He went on to share stories from the famous ‘Knock Knock’ campaign for the Korean National Police Agency, which aimed to reach out to the hidden victims of domestic violence.

The campaign provided new touchpoints for consumers and ultimately affected positive changes in society.

Vandal executive director Emile Rademeyer then followed, and charted the hype patterns implicit in emerging technologies, and their eventual busts, before ultimately cementing in the zeitgeist.

Later in the afternoon, Meta’s Becky McOwen-Banks, director - creative global, creative X, and Daisuke Inoue, SoftBank Corp senior director spoke about creative entrepreneurship and the convergence of marketing and HR, respectively.

HS Ad division leader Hyochul Lim then encouraged attendants to transform consumers into ‘fansumers’ in the era of hyper-personalisation, before Impact BBDO MENAP chief creative officer Ali Rez gave the conference a blueprint to change the way they create.

Among the highlights of the day’s speakers, Mediamonks APAC ECD Joao Flores discussed the imperative for human craft in a world of emerging technologies, in his talk ‘Rebooting Technology with Human Craft: From Korea to the World.’

Speaking to a full auditorium, Joao posited that the rapid evolution of apps, platforms, data, and emerging technologies has become part of our reality, but their true value lies in their positive impact on culture.

To Joao, positive human intent is essential to rendering these otherwise cold, inefficient technologies into positive, creative tools.

“There is no doubt that technology is a powerful tool,” Joao said, “but it is our human connection and intentions that drive progress. To shape a better future, we must harness our creativity together.”

The afternoon’s keynote address was delivered by Meta’s director of global creative development, Fabio Seidl, who’s call to action – simplify the future – was received by an eager conference.

To Fabio, there are three futures; the chosen, the uncontrollable, and the planned. With that in mind, Fabio delivered five tips for a better, simpler future:

“The higher the supply of AI,” Fabio said, “the higher the demand for human intelligence will be.”

The festival concluded with the announcement of the Mad Stars Awards, including the Grands Prix, the full list of which can be found here.

Two Grands Prix of the Year were awarded at the conclusion of the night, to TBWA\HAKUHODO, Japan, for ‘SHELLMET’, and to Leo Burnett Group Manila, for the McDonald’s ‘Unbranded Menu’.

Of the festival as a whole, Mad Stars representative Hyoju Heo said, “We are very pleased with this festival, which was the closest to normalcy we have experienced since the pandemic.”

“The various creative ideas that changed the world shone at the awards ceremony, and the high-quality conferences that captured the essence of marketing, creativity, and digital content inspired many audiences. We’re incredibly grateful for the support and enthusiasm of everyone who participated, making this year’s festival truly unforgettable.”