AFAA

Asian Advertising Congress (AdAsia)

In a few Asian countries, national advertising awards were available from the early days after World War II. But, they were “national.” Probably an exception might have been the All - Japan Radio and Television Festival, better known by its acronym, ACC, which accepted international entries for a while.

As Asian advertising grew by leaps and bounds in the 1970s and thereafter to reach some 20% of the world’s total advertising expenditures by the end of the last century, clearly there was an urgent need to have a regional creative festival. In addition, there were rising demands for proper assessment of Asian creativity. As a result, to meet such a need and demand, the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival, AdFest, was born in 1998 with its venue in Pattaya, Thailand, showcasing Asian creativity.

Now in its 10th year, AdFest recorded 3,738 entries in 2006, up from 778 in 1998. When it was launched ten yeas ago 200 delegates attended the Festival, which grew seven times to 1,400 in 2006. Unlike advertising festivals in the Western countries, AdFest is a nonprofit organization with low entry fees. AdFest hosts seminars for the young Asian creators during the festival. Also brewing is the Asia Pacific Media Forum, initiated in Indonesia, and its first Forum was held in Bali in March 2005, drawing 300 participants and speakers from AsiaPacific, US, UK and Europe. It is designed to foster greater dialogue among Asian media professionals.

Multiracial, multicultural, multilingual and multireligious, Asia is not a single market. However, it is amazing that the Asian Advertising Congress, fondly nicknamed AdAsia since 1984, has continued to not only survive but prosper, becoming a biennial event drawing over 1,000 delegates from its birth in 1958 with some 100 delegates, of which only eight were from five other Asian countries.

To participants or otherwise, the following presentations of AdAsia, AdFest, Asia Pacific Media Forum and other activities in Asian advertising during the last half a century is truly a fascinating panorama of the events and people that played a role in the tremendous development of Asian advertising.

The Birth of AdAsia

When the 14th Asian Advertising Congress was held in Seoul in 1984, the idea of giving an abbreviated nickname to the Congress was born. Mr. In Sup Shin, secretary general of the congress then, kept its many discussions and meetings under Memorandum for Record. Article 2 of Memorandum No. 1, dated May 11, 1983, has the following:

• I. S. Shin to come up with three themes by next meeting for decision.
• Memorandum No. 3 of May 21, 1983 has the following record under article 6.
• 6. Cohen (one of the committee members) came up with three different themes. Shin personally agreed with “ADASIA ‘84—Learning through Sharing in the World’s Most Dynamic Growth Area,” which was also the second choice of O&M (Ogilvy & Mather) Hong Kong. This was one of the three initial selections.