Is it easy to rise above rapid change? Not even remotely. The attention economy is broken. Dashboards, formats, and KPIs overwhelm. There’s an endless amount of content. But opportunities abound. Hear the stories of those who are finding ways through, over and around today’s opposing forces to seize success. Find ideas and inspiration to make your own work soar.  

FRIDAY 20 MARCH | 15.05-15.40

A Global Brand’s Challenge Beyond Borders

Joohee Lee, Global Creative Director, Cheil Korea, Seoul

Global Big Tech brands want one campaign to speak to people in over 200 countries. This means they have to work beyond local context rather than relying on what only makes sense in one place. The brief for a “universal” ad can quickly become safe, generic and overly focused on specs instead of real lives. Most Asian creatives, including the speaker, rarely deal with this scale. No cultural references, no regional nuance, yet the same work has to feel relevant from Bangkok through the Middle East to Berlin. So the question is simple: how do we keep these ads truly human, not just global?

This session shares what happens inside those briefs - trying to move the focus from technology to human benefit, and from features to feelings. It will touch on a range of recent global Big Tech campaigns, including work for Samsung Galaxy, from BTS collaborations to ultra-simple work showing a Galaxy phone feels, and XR ideas exploring AI’s possibilities. All are designed to travel easily beyond borders, but still emotionally alive. How far can we go and still keep our ideas truly human?

Joohee Lee’s realm is Samsung's global campaigns. She has redefined brand advertising by blending new technologies and cultural trends with human insight across diverse channels. Lee creates work where business meets humanity by incorporating new technologies and trends across a wide variety of channels and platforms. Her work runs across TVC and social content to KVs, DOOH and brand experience assets for the Galaxy Unpacked Events, including most recently, Samsung’s partnership campaign with K-pop superstar, BTS. She has won over 80 awards at major global shows, including ADFEST, Spikes Asia, Cannes Lions, D&AD, LIA, One Show and the Clios, and recently served as Grand Jury at The One Show and D&AD.

FRIDAY 20 MARCH | 15.40-16.15

When People Become the Brief Again

Warunyoo “Big” Sorasetsakoon, Executive Creative Director, BBDO Bangkok

Prasit “Pop” Kunanuphanchai, Chief Strategy Officer, BBDO Bangkok

In an industry overwhelmed by dashboards, formats, and KPIs, it’s easy to forget the simplest truth - people should be the brief. This Human+ session brings together Pop and Big to explore how marketing drifted away from real human behaviour, and how to bring it back. Pop reveals how over-optimisation pushed humanity out of brand-building, creating work that is seen but not felt. He explains why real effectiveness begins when strategy returns to people’s lives, emotions, and everyday behaviours, the places where meaning actually forms. Big then shows how PLAYVERTISING transforms those human truths into ideas that spark connection, surprise, and cultural impact. Through emotional twists, playful reframing, and small human rewards, he demonstrates how play unlocks angles strategy alone can’t reach.

Together, they present a modern Human+ equation - strategy rooted in meaning + creativity rooted in play. Attendees will leave with practical ways to re-humanise their process, reconnect with real people, and build work that feels alive, relevant, and emotionally grounded.

Warunyoo Sorasetsakoon (aka Big) is one of Thailand’s most respected creative leaders. He began his career at BBDO as a trainee 16 years ago and has since built a reputation for turning sharp human insights into bold, culturally resonant ideas. Big is driven by a love for observing real behaviour - the small emotional details, cultural cues, and unexpected moments that inspire fresh storytelling. This instinct has shaped standout recent work such as Death of a Salesman for Five Star Chicken, plus Samsung’s The Lost Bills and GrandmaFluencer, each reflecting Big’s belief that creativity powered by human emotion can travel globally. As ECD, Big champions the idea that play is not childish — it’s the most human part of creativity. His philosophy of Playvertising highlights how curiosity, emotional surprise, and playful human thinking can elevate ideas from advertising into cultural conversation. Over his career, Big has created notable campaigns across agencies including JWT, Ogilvy, McCann, Publicis Groupe and BBDO Bangkok, with accolades from Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, ADFEST, Global Awards, One Asia, LIA, Epica, and multiple local awards.

Prasit Kunanuphanchai (aka Pop) is one of Thailand’s most respected strategic minds. He began his career in 1999 as an account executive but quickly discovered his passion for strategic planning, a discipline he has now shaped for more than two decades. Pop has held senior roles across some of Thailand’s leading agencies, including Lowe, Leo Burnett, JWT, DY&R, and Creative Juice, working on many of the country’s most influential brands. His portfolio spans Samsung Consumer Electronics and Mobile, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Honda, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Johnnie Walker, Lay’s, Vitamilk, Clear, Anlene, AIS, dtac, and more. Across every category, his focus has remained consistent - translating deep human insight into ideas that drive meaningful brand and business growth. At BBDO, Pop has championed a strategic philosophy that balances creativity with effectiveness. He is known for navigating the tension between modern efficiency-driven marketing and the emotional storytelling that builds long-term value.

SATURDAY 21 MARCH | 10.40-11.15

Pizzas to Mongolia

Julian Boulding, Founder & President, thenetworkone, London

Bolor Narantsatsralt, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut Mongolia (Tavanbogd), Ulaanbaatar

Launching a completely unfamiliar product into a new market is a major challenge for anyone. Here’s a 35-years success case, from a young and dynamic country in Asia, where until the 1990s pizza was unknown. This fascinating story begins with entrepreneurial Mongolians returning to their home country and teaming up with communities of foreign contract workers, to create word-of-mouth awareness and intrigue; residual awareness of a TV campaign featuring the last president of the Soviet Union, spilling over to create a premium image; a Mongolian engineer returning home from Germany developing a cult following for the country’s first ever Pizza restaurant; and a Western brand owner, Pizza Hut, seeing the potential, jumping the cultural divide and building a highly successful QSR chain, in a country that still doesn’t have McDonald’s. Discover how an influencer-led campaign completely reframed how Mongols thought about food and bonded with its young target market using visual language. Both entertaining and informative, the sessions will provide a practical playbook for anyone involved in either overseeing an international brand; or persuading a global management team that insight into local culture is essential for marketing success today.

After 14 years with traditional network agencies, living and working in London, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo and New York, Julian Boulding founded thenetworkone in 2005. Representing 1500 agencies in 117 countries worldwide, from Japan to Chile and from Australia to Iceland, it’s by far the world’s largest independent agency community. Thenetworkone specialises in helping independent agencies to pitch and win assignments from international clients, and manage them successfully. Boulding talks constantly to thenetworkone's members – from the giant Indie agencies like Vayner, Serviceplan and VCCP to small boutiques like Kurio in Finland to keep its finger on the pulse of where the industry is going next.

Bolor Narantsatsralt is the Chief Marketing Officer of one of Asia’s highest-performing QSR markets and a standout example of how a small market can deliver exceptional results through creativity, culture, and disciplined execution. With over eight years of leadership across brand strategy, digital transformation, and consumer innovation, she has played a pivotal role in shaping Mongolia’s modern food and retail landscape. Under her leadership, Pizza Hut Mongolia has delivered five consecutive years of double-digit Same Store Sales Growth and consistently holds the highest Weekly Per Store Average Transactions (WPSA) across all Pizza Hut markets in Asia. Bolor specialises in translating global franchise strategies into culturally resonant, high-impact local campaigns — accelerating adoption across CRM, e-commerce, loyalty, and delivery while building deep emotional connection with consumers.

SATURDAY 21 MARCH | 10.40-11.15

Creative Bravery

Donal Keenan, Chief Operating Officer, D&AD, London

In a world of endless content, safe ideas no longer move brands forward. This session explores the power of creative bravery, revealing D&AD trends and insight and proven case studies. From bold storytelling and distinctive brand assets to ideas that drive both emotional connection and commercial success, the session examines creative work that truly resonates and drives brands forward.

Attendees will leave with an understanding of why some brands cut through while others fade into the background, and how to apply these lessons within their own organisations. The session is both a rallying cry for courageous thinking and a practical guide to turning insight-led creativity into lasting impact.

An awards expert, Keenan has spent much of his career at D&AD, having started in 2007. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2024 to drive D&AD’s mission to celebrate, stimulate and enable excellence in commercial creativity; to develop young talent; and to campaign for a fairer, more diverse industry in the belief that this creates better outcomes for all. Keenan has overseen many developments in the expansion of the Awards programme, including Health, Pharma, Commerce, PR and Media awards and the development and running of D&AD Impact, that aligns with the UN Global Development Goals. In the role of Awards & Festival Director role in 2023, he led the successful revival of the D&AD Festival post-COVID-19 which continues to grow today and in a consulting management role worked on the launch of the Kyoorius Awards in India, a now well-established regional Awards rewarding the best in Indian design and advertising.

ADFEST 2026, Human+, will be held Thursday 19 – Saturday 21 March 2026 at the Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand.

A must for the ambitions of all industry professionals., ADFEST’s 3-day event brings together the industry’s top minds, rising stars and most innovative ideas. With star-studded speaker sessions, workshops, screenings and networking events, register now to join us at the region’s most celebrated creative festival.

ADFEST is open fo delegate registration. For more information on delegate packages and fees, click here.

ADFEST is a not-for profit entity that believes passionately in its role to nurture and support the creative industry in the Asia Pacific and MENA region. It is 1 of only 7 regional creative festivals included in the WARC Creative 100 Rankings, 1 of 12 awards included in the Campaign Brief Asia Rankings, and 1 of 22 awards included in The Drum World Creative Rankings.