AdFest announced the 2021 Lotus Awards at an online ceremony on Thursday April 8 2021. The awards’ 62 jurors were overseen by grand jury president, Judy John, global chief creative officer at Edelman, Toronto.

Jimmy Lam, President of AdFest, stated, “We would like to thank everyone who entered AdFest 2021 in spite of the challenges we faced as an industry last year. We thank you for sharing your ideas with the world and for showing how in dark times, the most innovative creative ideas shine bright.”

There were four Grande winners, the highest accolade at AdFest
• Direct Lotus Grande: Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok for Thai Airways’ Stay Home Miles Exchange

• Film Lotus Grande: Wolf BKK, Bangkok for Central Midnight Sale Shop Unfriend, with production by Factory01, Bangkok

• Media Lotus Grande: TBWA, Sydney for Play NZ created for Tourism New Zealand with Mindshare, Sydney

• Grande for Humanity: Bonds Out Now for Bonds, by Leo Burnett Melbourne

The winners by category are:

AUDIO LOTUS
There are no Grande, Gold, Silver or Bronze awarded in the Audio Lotus category.

BRAND EXPERIENCE LOTUS
There are 1 Gold, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze Lotus winners in the Brand Experience category. 

Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok won Gold for the Thai Airways Stay Home Miles Exchange.

Silver winners are:
• Ogilvy Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur: Coca-Cola The Galactic Bottles won two Silver trophies
• Beijing Creative & Interactive Digital Technology Company Limited, Beijing and CIG Beijing: Huawei Device Co., Ltd. Half Piano
• ADK Creative One, Tokyo: NTT DOCOMO Memories Forever

BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT LOTUS
In Branded Entertainment Lotus, there are 3 Silver and 5 Bronze Lotus winners, plus two finalists.

Silver winners are :
• Edelman Singapore: Causes for Animals Singapore The Perfect Voiceovers

• Leo Burnett, Melbourne: Bonds Bonds Unplugged
• United Communication Group / Uni-Surf Digital Marketing, Taipei: Heng Leong Hang Co. Ltd (Braun) Braun X Formosa Chang

“The Perfect Voiceovers was a brilliant idea to change people’s perceptions of shelter animals, and help these animals to be seen as desirable rather than leftover. With zero dollars spent on media, adoption enquiries increased by 21%. As for Braun X Formosa Chang, this unusual campaign aimed to change the traditional image of Braun and it caught young people’s attention. I love the beautiful art direction as well,” stated Baris Gencel, creative director, Brand Consultant & Creative Digital & Technology, Shanghai.

DESIGN LOTUS
There are 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze winners in the Design Lotus category.

Dentsu Inc., Tokyo won Gold for Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.’s Pocky the Gift.

“Everyone knows and loves Pocky. It’s an iconic product.  And it’s very difficult to redesign the packaging of something that’s so well recognised. But Pocky was able to create a new look that was minimalist, modern, and playful yet still 100% Pocky.  Plus, the new packaging is just cute AF,” stated Jameilee Que, creative director at BBDO Guerrero, Manila.

Two Silver trophies are also awarded to:
• Dentsu Inc., Tokyo: Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.’s Pocky the Gift
• SIX Inc., Hakuhodo Inc., and HAKUHODO Kettle Inc., Tokyo:Code Sony Music Labels / Reissue Records for artist Kenshi Yonezu, A Ciphered Release Of Music Video: Stray Sheep

DIGITAL CRAFT LOTUS
This year, there are no Gold or Silver winners, only 4 Bronze winners in Digital Craft Lotus.

DIGITAL LOTUS
There are 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze Lotus award winners in Digital Lotus.

Gold winners are:
• Taproot Dentsu, Mumbai: Facebook Pooja Didi

• Innocean Worldwide, Seoul: Young Chemical / Facebook Korea, The Cheering Bandage. This campaign also won 1 Silver trophy in this category.

DIRECT LOTUS

There are 1 Grande, 1 Gold and 1 Bronze in the Direct Lotus category.

Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok, won Gold for Thai Airways’ Stay Home Miles Exchange, as well as a Grande. The campaign was entered into the Resilience in Creativity sub-category, which celebrates ideas that demonstrate the strength of the human spirit in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

eCOMMERCE LOTUS

The Silver Lotus winners are:
• Dentsu Inc., Tokyo: Kura Sushi, Inc. Tuna Scope 2020
• Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok: Thai Airways International Destination Menu

EFFECTIVE LOTUS
There are 3 Gold awards, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze in Effective Lotus.

Gold winners are:
• Grey Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur: WWF, Your Plastic Diet, which won 2 Golds

https://youtu.be/0F3fEDSAAv8
• Dentsu Inc., Tokyo: Kura Sushi, Inc., Tuna Scope 2020

FILM CRAFT LOTUS
There are 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 15 Bronze awards in Film Craft Lotus.

Gold winners are:
• Wolf BKK, Bangkok: Central Department Store Shop Unfriend, with production by Factory01, Bangkok
• Taiyo Kikaku Co., Ltd., Tokyo: Toagosei Co. Ltd.’s Aron Alpha Too Short for TV Ads created for Yomiko Advertising Inc., Tokyo
• Squeak E. Clean Studios, Sydney: Facebook Facebook Kazoo for Wieden + Kennedy Portland

FILM LOTUS
1 Grande, 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze were awarded.

Wolf BKK, Bangkok won a Grande for Central Midnight Sale Shop Unfriend’ with production by Factory01, Bangkok.

“We often use the word clutter-breaking in our industry. But I feel this time, this film truly deserves that title. It stands out in so many ways. It’s either a fashion film that uses humour really well, or it’s a funny film that’s incredibly fashionable. Either ways, it breaks multiple stereotypes while being able to deliver its message very effectively,” stated Abhinav Tripathi, executive creative director at McCann Worldgroup India.

The Sour Bangkok Co. Ltd., Bangkok won Gold for Maepranom, created for Phiboonchai Maepranom Thai Chilli Paste Co., Ltd., with production by Phenomena Co., Ltd., Bangkok.

INNOVA LOTUS
The Magnificent Seven jury presidents, headed by Judy John, judged the INNOVA Lotus, Lotus Roots, and Grande for Humanity.

The INNOVA Lotus category rewards genuine innovation, talk-value and results. It was won by Cheil Worldwide, Seoul for Emart’s Light Saver.

LOTUS ROOTS
Unique to AdFest, the Lotus Roots category celebrates ideas that embody local values whether in terms of culture, religion, beliefs, traditions, or language.

There were 2 Lotus Roots winners:
• Fact, Tokyo: Pillows are for fighting – Ito City’s City Promotion
• FINCH, Sydney: Spark’s Kupu Tell Your Story created for Colenso BBDO Auckland

MEDIA LOTUS
In the Media Lotus category, there were 1 Grande, 2 Gold, 4 Silver, and 2 Bronze awarded.

TBWA\Sydney won a Grande for Play NZ for Tourism New Zealand with Mindshare, Sydney.

Gold winners are:
• Leo Burnett, Melbourne: Bonds Bonds Out Now with media by OMD Sydney
• United Communication Group/Uni-Surf Digital Marketing, Taipei: Heng Leong Hang Co. Ltd (Braun) Braun X Formosa Chang.

MOBILE LOTUS
1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze awards were awarded.

The Gold winner is Wunderman Thompson Thailand, Bangkok, for Thai Airways, Stay Home Miles Exchange. The agency also won the Silver award for the same campaign.

NEW DIRECTOR LOTUS
1 Silver 1 Bronze were awarded.  

The Silver trophy is awarded to Graph Studio Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur for short film, Setting Moon, created for the Kancil Awards 2019, hosted by the 4AS (Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies) Malaysia.

“This unusually spiritual and mystical topic choice is especially unexpected for a young director. We were impressed by the sincerity of the subject, and the love and care director Chan Teik Quan has put into the film. We all eventually say goodbye to our loved ones, and this film is a highly original depiction of an imagined road to farewell,” stated Diederik van Middelkoop, executive creative director at Amp.Amsterdam.

OUTDOOR LOTUS
1 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze were awarded.

Leo Burnett, Melbourne picked up a Gold trophy for the Bonds Bonds Out Now campaign.

The Silver winners are:
• Daiko & DAIKO WEDO, Tokyo: Burger King Japan, True King Listens
• United Communication Group / Uni-Surf Digital Marketing, Taipei: Heng Leong Hang Co. Ltd (Braun) Braun X Formosa Chang
• Hakuhodo Indonesia, Jakarta: Sushi Sei’s Flavour of Home.
• Leo Burnett Sydney, Sydney: Bonds Bonds Out Now

PR LOTUS
In PR Lotus, 3 Gold, 4 Silver and 7 Bronze were awarded.

The Gold PR winners are:
• IRIS Singapore : Warner Music Asia,Unsung
• Leo Burnett, Melbourne: Bonds Bonds Out Now
• TBWA\Sydney:Tourism New Zealand, Play NZ.

PRESS LOTUS
1 Silver and 1 Bronze were awarded.

TBWA\Thailand, Bangkok has won Silver for McThai Co. Ltd.’s (McDonald’s) Burger & Me campaign with print production by Le Photographe Co. Ltd., Bangkok and Visionary Bangkok.

PRINT & OUTDOOR CRAFT LOTUS
In the Print & Outdoor Craft Lotus category, there were 1 Silver and 1 Bronze winners. 

The Silver winner is:
• Le Photographe Co. Ltd., Bangkok:McThai Co. Ltd.’s (McDonald’s) Kiss 1 created for TBWA\Thailand, Bangkok, with print production also by Visionary Bangkok.

GRANDE FOR HUMANITY

The Grande for Humanity, which recognises excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility or Public Services & Cause Appeals, goes to Leo Burnett Melbourne for Bonds Out Now, for Bonds.

Find the complete list of AdFest 2021 Grande, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners here.