Dentsu, Publicis and Leo among the best performers in ADFEST 2026 Final Awards
ADFEST 2026 tonight announced the winners from the second of its two Lotus Awards presentations, covering nine categories: Outdoor, Press, Radio & Audio, Film, Creative Strategy, Effective, Sustainable, INNOVA Lotus and Lotus Roots.
In addition, the Young Lotus, Grande for Humanity and Special Awards were also announced to a packed hall. The awards were presented at PEACH, Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand.
A total of 1,405 entries were received for the Lotus Awards and 56 jury members from 17 cities were organized into 7 groups, chaired by Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer for dentsu, Tokyo to decide the winners of the ADFEST 2026 Lotus Awards.
GRAND JURY PRESIDENT INSIGHTS:
ADFEST 2026: “Human+”
Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer for dentsu, Tokyo was Grand Jury President for Creative Strategy, Effective, INNOVA Lotus, Sustainable Lotus and Lotus Roots Awards.
“Looking at the cases and the people gathered here for ADFEST 2026, what I felt again this year is that the event is a truly unique place where creativity is explored and nurtured through the lens of the APAC region’s perspectives and values. It is not a copy of other awards but rather, it is a place where you can see creativity that is unique to APAC yet applicable worldwide. I believe it is also a place that cultivates the talent needed to make that happen.”
“The top winning work at ADFEST truly embodies the concept of “Human+.” They are cases of how technology and crafts can be leveraged to enhance human capabilities, energize people to move, and solve difficult challenges together with power of humans”, he said.
JURY INSIGHTS: OUTDOOR LOTUS / PRESS LOTUS / RADIO & AUDIO LOTUS / FILM LOTUS
Ajay Vikram, Chief Creative Officer for Publicis Groupe, SEA was Jury President for Film, Outdoor, Press and Radio & Audio.
Vikram said: “The most exciting aspect of the creative work we judged across our categories was its sheer richness and diversity. It was truly like watching a tapestry emerge from the many colourful cultural threads that represent our region, from Australia/New Zealand to the Southeast Asian countries, from Japan, China, Korea, India and even Kazakhstan. It was not just a superficial tour [of the region] but one charged with the depth of true behavioural and cultural insights, which is what local advertising at its best reflects. A little capsule of culture at a specific moment of each country’s journey.”
“Could I also say here that the jury we had in the room for these categories were as rich and diverse as the region itself, and I want to thank ADFEST for putting it together in a way that every possible perspective was heard in the room.”
OUTDOOR LOTUS AWARD
For the Outdoor Lotus category, 85 pieces of work were entered, with the Jury awarding 5 Bronze, 4 Silver and 2 Gold for great work.
The Grande was won by Publicis Groupe Hong Kong, Hong Kong for Cathay “Back to Kai Tak”.
The Gold awards were presented to:
GForceGrey, Almaty for Citix “Saltanat Light” and
VML Group Thailand, Bangkok for Netflix “Dalah’s Spoiler Billboard”
Ajay Vikram, Chief Creative Officer for Publicis Groupe, SEA and Jury President for Outdoor Lotus summarized that the category had some of the strongest entries of the categories he was privileged to judge.
He said, “Our Outdoor category led to some interesting and insightful discussions, and the big winners here represent a range from clever ideas to raw emotional power to sheer scale and impact. Our Grande winner represents the perfect blend of cultural and emotional impact, size and scale and the sheer difficulty of execution, all coming together in a spectacularly visual outdoor display.”
PRESS LOTUS AWARD
There were 8 entries recorded for the Press Lotus awards, but no awards were given in this category.
Ajay Vikram, Chief Creative Officer for Publicis Groupe, SEA and Jury President for Press Lotus commented, “we did feel a little disappointment at the very few entries in the category that reflects the number of awards we were able to give out. This seems to be a critical moment in the evolution of print as a medium.”
“In the Press category, we felt there were a couple of interesting applications of print, but they didn’t go far enough to showcase the potential of this medium.”
RADIO & AUDIO LOTUS AWARD
This year, there were 27 entries for the Radio & Audio Lotus Awards. The jury gave out 2 Bronze and 3 Silver awards.
Ajay Vikram, Chief Creative Officer for Publicis Groupe, SEA and Jury President for Radio and Audio Lotus gave his perspective, “Radio & Audio had some interesting pieces but again, we felt that what we heard was not as substantial [or representative of the category] as it could be. The industry might collectively think of Audio beyond radio commercials and consider podcasts, music and other audio elements to enter to future shows.”
“That said, in Radio & Audio as a jury we felt that we had stumbled across a couple of gems in an otherwise bare landscape. The winning entries truly represented audio as an impactful medium to help people improve their lives. They serve as an inspiration to the rest of us to consider how hearing is such a critical part of all the senses that make us human. We should ask ourselves if we are truly using the medium to the best of its creative potential.”
FILM LOTUS AWARD
Film Lotus was had one the largest number of entries at ADFEST 2026 with a total of 115 entries. The jury awarded 8 Bronze, 3 Silver, 1 Gold and 1 Grande awards.
The Grande was picked up by Choojai and Friends, Bangkok for Snack Jack Ring “Mother Strike”.
The Gold award was presented to Leo Thailand, Bangkok for Krung Sri First Choice ,”Patient”.
Ajay Vikram, Chief Creative Officer for Publicis Groupe, SEA and Jury President for Film Lotus identified Film as one of the strongest categories his jury judged.
”Our top Film awards represent an incredible variety of storytelling styles and cultural depth, with varying levels of problem solving for clients while entertaining and engaging consumers.”
“Our choice of Grande was driven by what we saw as the perfect combination of universal human insight rooted in culture, but put together in a visually unexpected, arresting and impactful way that keeps you watching…and then lands beautifully with a clear and strong message. In a business category where there is so much noise and clutter, and the briefs are not always that unique, we felt this work found a way to rise above the rest.”
JURY INSIGHTS: CREATIVE STRATEGY/EFFECTIVE LOTUS / SUSTAINABLE LOTUS
Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer for dentsu, Tokyo was Grand Jury President for Creative Strategy, Effective and Sustainable Lotus awards.
He summed up his experience at ADFEST 2026: “I felt that this year’s entries were notable for their creativity that went beyond the boundaries of advertising campaigns. I found it very encouraging to see so many cases demonstrating that creativity is a major driving force for solving challenges across a wide range of fields.”
CREATIVE STRATEGY LOTUS AWARD
For the Creative Strategy Lotus category, 77 pieces of work were entered, with the Jury awarding 7 Bronze, 6 Silver and 2 Gold. There was no Grande awarded for Creative Strategy this year.
As Grand Jury President for Creative Strategy, Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer for dentsu, Tokyo spoke for the jury in this category when he said, “It was unfortunate that Creative Strategy didn’t have Grande this year.”
“This is one of the challenges we face moving forward, but I feel that while many of the submitted entries demonstrate excellent execution, they often lack sufficient explanation of the underlying strategy and the outcomes achieved.
I hope that this issue can be resolved by having creatives and strategists work more closely together and submit entries as a team.”
The Gold awards were presented to:
The Breakthrough Company Go, Tokyo for FamilyMart “Save Me” and
Publicis Groupe Hong Kong, Hong Kong for McDonald’s “Acronym Hack”
EFFECTIVE LOTUS AWARD
For the Effective Lotus category, 36 pieces of work were entered, with the Jury awarding 3 Bronze, 1 Silver, 1 Gold and 1 Grande.
The Grande award was presented to Impact BBDO, Dubai for Annahar “Active Journalism”
The Gold award was presented to Dentsu Creative Inc., Gurugram for DSP Mutual Fund “Garuda Rakshak”
Sasaki elaborated, “Regarding Effective Lotus, we didn’t just look at numbers like impressions and sales figures; we discussed the true impact and made our selection based on that.”
“I believe the Grande winner is a prime case in point for several years of different, effective and creative initiatives to make people look into their country, politics and journalism.”
SUSTAINABLE LOTUS
Sustainable Lotus recorded a total of 44 entries this year. Out of these, the jury awarded 3 Bronze, 1 Silver, 2 Gold metal awards and 1 Grande award.
The Grande award was presented to VML Group Thailand, Bangkok for TRA Mongkut Fertilizer “Soil Stay”
The Gold awards were presented to:
Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Metagen Therapeutics, Inc. “The Stool Donation Platform “Cho-Musubi”” and
Leo Australia, Sydney for SUNCORP Insurance “Haven”
Explained Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer for dentsu, Tokyo and Grand Jury President for this category, “Sustainable Lotus showcased a wide range of creative approaches to tackle the various challenges in the APAC region. APAC is the center of hidden challenges to solve with our creativity.”
“While there were several outstanding cases, we selected the Grande winner as it helps encourage people to take action and collect data in an enjoyable way.”
INNOVA LOTUS / LOTUS ROOTS
Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer for dentsu, Tokyo was Grand Jury President for INNOVA Lotus and Lotus Roots. The jury comprised of all the Jury Presidents at ADFEST, including:
Jury President of Brand Experience Lotus, Commerce Lotus and Direct Lotus:
Jim Ingram, Co-Founder & Group Chief Creative, Thinkerbell, Australia
Jury President of Design Lotus and Print & Outdoor Craft Lotus:
Geet Rathi, Founder & Creative Director, Openfield, Mumbai
Jury President of Digital & Social Lotus and Digital Craft Lotus:
Theresa Ong, Head of Creative Shop, SEA & India, Meta, Singapore
Jury President of Entertainment Lotus, Media Lotus and PR Lotus:
Julie Jihyun Kang, CEO, Serviceplan Korea and Founder & CEO, Flux Al Asia, Seoul
Jury President of Film Craft Lotus and New Director Lotus:
Michael Ahmadzadeh, Partner & Executive Producer, electriclimeº,
APAC & MENA
Jury President of Film Lotus, Outdoor Lotus, Press Lotus and Radio & Audio Lotus:
Ajay Vikram, Chief Creative Officer Publicis Groupe, SEA
This jury also selected the winning work for Lotus Grande for Humanity.
INNOVA LOTUS AWARD
There were 30 entries for INNOVA Lotus, which recognizes world-class concepts that have made a dramatic impact on the marketplace.
Dentsu Creative Inc., Gurugram picked up both the INNOVA Grande and a separate INNOVA award for its work for DSP Mutual Fund “Garuda Rakshak”
Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer for dentsu, Tokyo and Grand Jury President for INNOVA said, “All of the INNOVA Lotus presentations were outstanding. The kind of innovation ADFEST seeks isn’t merely the proposal of new technology, but rather the creation of new value through creativity that makes you think, “I never thought of that!” We discussed a lot of different entries but ultimately chose the cases that were the most thoughtfully designed.”
LOTUS ROOTS AWARD
The Grand Jury President and group of Jury Presidents also presided over the Lotus Roots award, which recognizes creative work that preserves and celebrates the rich heritage and value of each local culture.
There were 89 entries for the Lotus Roots category, an increase of 13% on last year’s entries. 5 Lotus Roots awards and a Grande Lotus Roots were awarded.
The Grande Lotus Roots award was presented to Fundamental, Mumbai for WhatsApp “WhatsApp Baatan Hi Baatan Mein (Love in a Few Words)
The 5 Lotus Roots awards were given out to:
Dentsu Creative Inc., Gurugram for DSP Mutual Fund “Garuda Rakshak”
Innocean, Seoul for Korea’s Liberation Day “Hearing 1945”
Shiseido Creative, Tokyo for Shiseido “Traces of Trance”
Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo for Hare-Kaze “Sakura Scan”
DDB Mudra Group, Mumbai for Battlegrounds Mobile India “The Great In-game Wedding”
Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer for dentsu, Tokyo and Grand Jury President for Lotus Roots explained, “The Lotus Roots category is not just about being local; it’s about uncovering valuable insights rooted in each local culture and developing creative solutions that resonate globally.”
“The Grande winner had every aspect deeply rooted in the local culture; from the local context and the daily lives of the people to the casting, storytelling, length and production quality.”
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To view the full program, visit www.ADFEST.com