The votes are in, and after a grueling week of workshops, parties, and challenges, Shun Akeda and Sayo Noda from Hakuhodo Inc. in Tokyo have emerged the winners of this year’s Young Lotus trophy.

 
Shun and Sayo were one of 15 pairs competing in the 13th Young Lotus Workshop, which was titled “Create with a Swagger”.

 
Hosted by Cheil Worldwide, each team had 24-hours to respond to the following brief: create a digital platform that not only raises awareness among creatives of ADFEST as an event, but also helps build an extended and on-going community throughout Asia Pacific, based on the festival’s principles and beliefs.

 
Shun and Sayo also won the Young Lotus Popular Vote after ADFEST delegates voted on their favorite team after the ‘Cheil Worldwide Presents Young Lotus 2017’ Speaker Session yesterday.

 
The other four finalist teams were: Naomi Lam and Nikki Palomaria from BBDO Hong Kong; Saurav Das and Rahil Shah from Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai; Minhee Joung and Jeehyun Park from Cheil Worldwide, Seoul; and Augustus Sung, Ogilvy & Mather Singapore and Sen Chong Alex Tan, MullenLowe Singapore.

 
Wain Choi, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, who was Chairman of this year’s Young Lotus Workshop said, "Nurturing the next generation of creatives in Asia has always been at the center of our attention. Communicating with the young creatives is an exciting experience as we can learn what inspires them, and makes them passionate. They are the future of our industry. We are here to make sure their voice is heard through this region and globally."

 
"The Tokyo team had a fresh concept that was relevant to why we go to award shows. The moment you see great work, you would think 'I wish I had done that.' Their idea and its execution had great insight that tapped into emotions. The decision was unanimous among the four judges. Tokyo team deserves it," says Choi.

 
"The important part of Young Lotus Workshop is that it's a 24-hour challenge. I wish we could've given the young creatives enough time to see more ideas out of the boundary, crazy and subjective in some ways. But still, some teams had that confidence and created with a swagger. The future seems bright for ADFEST and our industry, " noted Kyejo Lee, Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide Inc., Seoul and speaker for this year’s Young Lotus Workshop.

 
The cities represented at this year’s Young Lotus Workshop are: Bangkok, Beijing, Colombo, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo.

           
Young Lotus Workshop is one of the integral components of ADFEST every year. Vinit Suraphongchai, Chairman of ADFEST, says: “We held the first Young Lotus workshop in 2004, and today it remains one of the only mentoring programs for young people to come together to learn from the world’s top creatives.  I’d like to thank Cheil Worldwide for hosting this year’s Young Lotus Workshop, which is always one of the highlights of our festival.”