Witawat Jayapani, chief executive officer of Creative Juice\G1, hoists up the “Inter Goes Thai Award” at the 22nd BAD Awards presentation on Friday.

Hosted by the Bangkok Art Directors' Association, the awards had the theme "Inter Goes Thai" and attracted more than 1,200 entries in various media formats, including television and print ads, outdoor media, radio spots, graphic design and cybermedia.

The judges were agency representatives, and the awards were divided into Best of Show, Best and Certificate.

Creative Juice\G1 collected 23 Best Awards and 23 Certificates, as well as the special Grand Prix Inter Goes Thai Award for its television commercial for Bangkok Insurance.

The Inter Goes Thai Award was selected from among all of the Best Awards and judged by some of the world's best creative professionals. These include Neil French, worldwide creative director for Ex-WPP; Mark Tutssel, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide; Bob Scarpelli, chief creative officer of DDB Worldwide; Mark Waites, co-founder of Mother London; and Jeremy Craigen, executive creative director of DDB London.

Three Best of Show Awards went to Creative Juice\G1 for its print ad "Soldier-Plane-Ship", made for Siam Tamiya's Tamiya Model Kits Shop; BBDO Bangkok for its graphic design made for Aquavitae's Black Cat Coffee; and Idea Avenue for its television commercial "Boss Sells Newspapers", made for Wrangyer Beverage's Back-Up coffee product. Ogilvy and Mather collected 46 awards, consisting of one Best and 45 Certificates, followed by Lowe Bangkok with 18 awards (two Best and 16 Certificates), JWT with 18 Certificates and Leo Burnett with four Best and five Certificates.

Bangkok Art Directors' Association president Theerasak Thanapattanakul said that in the past, it was assumed "Thai Goes Inter" meant Thai creative works had been recognised internationally. But now it is time for the world to look to Thailand for inspiration.

"Over the past years, local creative people have successfully developed their advertising works and been able to stand out at international level," said Theerasak.

He added that Thailand was not only the leading Asian country in producing good creative work, but also the world's fifth largest recipient of international awards for the last two years, as detailed in The Gunn Report. This reflects the high quality of Thai creative work at the international level.

Due to the sensitive economic environment, Thailand's advertising industry next year should see more intense competition among agencies in creating good advertising and brand building that can encourage good recognition among consumers in a short period of time.

In addition to conventional media like print, television, radio and the Internet, fresh new media that make a strong impact on consumers will be next year's highlight.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation