Singapore – AD STARS, the global advertising festival that aims to share creative solutions, has revealed its 2021 Grand Prix, gold, silver, and bronze winners at its recent online awards ceremony with 619 winners overall, chosen from 1,726 finalists from 54 countries.
“AD STARS is always a wonderful show to view work from a large number of cultures and is always an incredible learning experience. This year was no different, the jury was absolutely amazed by the variety of thinking,” said Ali Rez, the regional executive creative director at Impact BBDO MENAP, and was an executive judge at the AD STARS 2021 Awards.
Eight Grand Prix trophies were awarded to six creative companies:
- Saatchi & Saatchi Australia: ‘Donation Dollar’ for Royal Australian Mint (Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix, Design Grand Prix and Direct Grand Prix)
- Dentsu Inc. Japan: ‘The Toxic Dictionary’ for Nikkei Inc. (Print Grand Prix)
- Happiness Saigon, Vietnam: ‘Lays Crispy Subtitles’ for Le Thi Yen (Radio & Audio Grand Prix)
- VMLY&R Singapore: ‘Pride Pass’ for Manpower Group Workforce Solutions (Public Service Advertising Grand Prix)
- Cheil Hong Kong: ‘The Cost of Bullying’ for Samsung (Public Service Advertising Grand Prix)
- TBWA Hakuhodo Japan: ‘The First Take’ for The First Take (Video Stars Grand Prix).
Film & Video Stars Gold winners:
- Wunderman Thompson Thailand: ‘This creative is thanking a client for canceling its work in the pandemic’ for TCP Group
- Taproot Dentsu India: ‘Pooja Didi’ for Facebook
- POL Oslo, Norway: ‘Don’t hate.Imitate – The Super Bowl Clapback’ for Audi Norway
- Ogilvy Group Thailand: ‘Library’ for Monde Nissin Co. Ltd.
- Amber Communication Shanghai, China: ‘Safely feel the real world’ for Durex
- dentsu mcgarrybowen, Taiwan: ‘In Love We Trust’ for Sinyi Realty
- BBH Singapore: ‘It’s in Our Spirit’ for The Absolut Company.
Meanwhile, the Grand Prix in the Video Stars category was awarded to TBWA Hakuhodo for ‘The First Take’.
Three Gold winners in Video Stars:
- GIGIL, Philippines: ‘Netflix ‘Cupids’’ for Netflix
- Ogilvy Group Thailand: ‘Library’ for Monde Nissin Co., Ltd.
- Wunderman Thompson Thailand: ‘This creative is thanking a client for canceling its work in the pandemic’ for TCP Group.
In Design, the Grand Prix was awarded to Saatchi & Saatchi Australia for ‘Donation Dollar’ for the Royal Australian Mint.
Two Gold trophies in Design:
- AKQA Japan: ‘Create with Air Max’ for Nike
- Hakuhodo Indonesia: ‘Sake Sushi House’ for Sushi Sei.
While in Print, the Grand Prix was awarded to Dentsu Inc.’s ‘The Toxic Dictionary’ for Nikkei Inc. The jury also awarded one Gold trophy to Havas Middle East for ‘LEGO News Rebuilt’ for LEGO Saudi Stores.
Last year, AD STARS introduced the ‘Pivot’ category to celebrate campaigns that have amplified and repositioned brands in response to a crisis like COVID-19. These are 3 Gold Pivot winners:
- Saatchi & Saatchi Australia: ‘Donation Dollar’ for Royal Australia Mint
- Wunderman Thompson Thailand: ‘Destination Menu’ for THAI Airways
- Dentsu Inc. Japan: ‘Tuna Scope 2020’ for Kura Sushi Inc.
In Public Service Advertising (PSA), there are two Grand Prix winners, namely VMLY&R Singapore’s ‘Pride Pass’ for Manpower Group Workforce Solutions and Cheil Hong Kong’s ‘The Cost of Bullying’ for Samsung.
Five Gold PSA winners:
- Havas Worldwide Portugal: ‘The Day-After-Women’s-Day Newspapers’ for Raparigas da Bola
- Thinkerbell Australia: ‘The Purple Hive Project’ for Bega Foods
- Havas Costa Rica: ‘The Check Ball’ for BlueCross BlueShield
- Saatchi & Saatchi Australia: ‘Donation Dollar’ for Royal Australian Mint
- Special Group New Zealand: ‘Meddle in the New Zealand Election’ for Every Kiwi Vote Counts.
Four Golds Outdoors winners:
- Saatchi & Saatchi Australia: ‘Donation Dollar’ for Royal Australian Mint
- MullenLowe MENA FZLLC: ‘Double Moon’ for UAE Government Media Office
- BBH Singapore: ‘Running Stories’ for BBH
- The Nine, China: ‘Guess Which Book Is It’ for Yan Ji You Bookstore.
There were no Grand Prix or Gold awards in the Diverse Insights category, while there is one Gold winner in the Place Brand category this year, which is MullenLowe MENA FZLLC’s ‘Double Moon’ for UAE Government Media Office.
In Radio & Audio, Happiness Saigon in Vietnam has won Grand Prix for ‘Lays Crispy Subtitles’ for Le Thi Yen; while AKQA Brazil has won Gold for ‘Beck’s Frequency’ for Beck’s.
On the other hand, there were no Grand Prix or Gold winners in the Innovation and Integrated categories this year, and no Grand Prix winner in Interactive.
Three Gold Interactive winners:
- AKQA Brazil has won Gold for ‘Beck’s Frequency’ for Beck
- Dentsu Craft Tokyo: ‘Yakushima Treasure – Another Live from Yakushima’ for Yakushima Treasure
- Zulu Alpha Kilo, Canada: ‘World’s Oldest E-Sports Team’ for HomeEquity Bank.
Deloitte Australia has won Gold in the Mobile category for ‘Carbon Thumbprint’ for Belong.
Two Gold Data Insights winners:
- Dentsu Craft Tokyo: ‘Yakushima Treasure – Another Live from Yakushima’ for Yakushima Treasure
- Deloitte Australia: ‘Carbon Thumbprint’ for Belong
Three Gold Social & Influencer winners:
- POL Oslo, Norway: ‘Don’t hate. Imitate – The Super Bowl Clapback’ for Audi Norway (2 Golds)
- Rothco, part of Accenture Interactive, Ireland: ‘Sleeping Flags’ for O.N.E.
In Brand Experience & Activation, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia won the Grand Prix for ‘Donation Dollar’ for the Royal Australian Mint.
Three Gold winners:
- BBH Singapore: ‘Running Stories’ for BBH
- Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘Voice of Racism’ for New Zealand Human Rights Commission
- Grey: ‘Contract Translator’ for Reclame Aqui.
In Direct, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia won the Grand Prix for ‘Donation Dollar’ for the Royal Australia Mint. These are also two Gold winners in Direct:
- Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The Wider Web’ for Etisalat
- MullenLowe, USA: ‘Shamecards’ for Change the Ref.
In Media, there is one Gold winner, which is Saatchi & Saatchi Australia’s ‘Donation Dollar’ for the Royal Australian Mint.
In PR, the jury awarded three Gold winners:
- MullenLowe MENA FZLLC: ‘Double Moon’ for UAE Government Media Office
- Rothco, part of Accenture Interactive, Ireland: ‘Sleeping Flags’ for O.N.E.
- Saatchi & Saatchi Ukraine: ‘Motherland Pride’ for KyivPride.
Hwan-Jin Choi, the chairperson of the AD STARS Executive Committee, said, “Our panel of judges told us that they were amazed by the ideas they saw that are helping brands to rise, restart the economy or create meaningful ways to assist consumers. They give us optimism for the future – all winners should be very proud.”
The AD STARS 2021 Awards Ceremony was held online last 27 August at 5:00 pm KST via the official AD STARS website.
