This was a significant increase over last year's festival, which showcased 4,738 entries from 400 agencies.

"AP AdFest" chairman Vinij Suraphongchai said yesterday that outdoor and print ads seemed to have developed this year while television commercials, as a whole, were less than satisfactory.

Vinij and the judges for the four-day competition, which ends today, were satisfied with the number of entries in the three new categories. The criteria for the new categories were "good ideas, good execution and good strategy" - all designed to make consumers understand exactly what advertisers wanted to communicate.

David Droga, creative chairman of Droga5 in New York, said 360 Lotus was an award for those agencies that effectively integrated all advertising and marketing channels to promote certain products or services.

This year's event also took the opportunity to celebrate the festival's 10th anniversary by inviting 10 creative executives in the region to recognise outstanding work under the theme "10 Artists Impression on 10". Materials from the 10 campaigns were to be sold via silent auction by today's final session.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation