Ad Stars chairman aims to strengthen Korean creative with online insight exchange

Ad Stars, the Busan-based international advertising festival, drew to a close on Saturday with the awarding of two Grands Prix — one to Publicis Indonesia for its ‘Mud flow’ outdoor campaign, and the other to the Tokyu Agency for the ‘Japan World Cup’, an initiative to reignite interest in horse racing among Japanese youth.

While at the event, which does not generate revenue from entry fees but receives government support, Campaign spoke to the chairman of the executive committee, Hwan Jin Choi, about his vision for the festival’s future.

Campaign: Ad Stars is now in its fourth year. What do you ultimately hope to achieve with the festival, and how do you plan to evaluate its success?

Choi: Ad Stars has a short history compared to many other awards shows. To overcome this limitation, our primary objective is the convergence of on and offline media. Entrants are able to submit work all year round, and can access the site whenever they want. Netizens have the right to review the entries online before they proceed to the main round. We also publish a book of case studies made up of previous entries. The main concept is to improve interaction between the board, applicants and netizens.

Campaign: Given that Ad Stars does not charge for entry submission, how do you plan to ensure the event is sustainable?

Choi: When Mark Zuckerburg founded Facebook, he did so with a long-term vision. That is also our strategy. We are not aimed at short-term profit. We do not want the creative work submitted to be limited. There is a dispute between quality and quantity, but initially we will continue to operate an open system and get people involved. This will eventually lead to long-term profit. The purpose of Ad Stars is to grow a social network and build a cultural asset. The goal of judging is to identify several ‘masterpieces’ rather than just one. We aim to discover and share insight from every market. The ultimate goal is not to attract people from around the world to Busan. Our aim is to share opinions online — not just in one specific region or country. If a European car company wants to enter Pakistan, for example, they will be able to obtain insight from our archives.

Campaign: The standard of Korean creative work is still seen as relatively weak. How will you use the festival to improve the industry?

Choi: There are two ways: inside-out, and outside-in. The festival will offer the Korean advertising industry insight and will be helpful in developing real campaigns. There are already good examples from Korea, but we have not had the chance to show them internationally. This is a good channel to introduce Korean work globally and to have it evaluated [by international participants]. It is an opportunity to promote Korean advertising to the world and also to import creative ideas from other countries.