2006 Asia Pacific Advertising Festival-Young Lotus Workshop

2006 Asia Pacific Advertising Festival-Young Lotus Workshop




Lo: To me, I have learned numerous things from Young Lotus Workshop. If you are interested in observing life and reading people, there are numerous chances to learn if you are curious. To me, the most important thing I learned there was the international view. There were so many people from different countries including 14 countries and 28 brains. It's so engaging. Besides the techniques, trends and the basic elements to an ad I learned in class. I was also greatly impressed by the dressing code and manner of other creatives, I couldn't find a place that could provide me such a learning opportunity.


What did you get after staying with Young Creatives from different Asian countries?
Chou: The overriding thought was that "the world is truly enormous". Although I tried to travel as much as I can, I was only able to see the environment of the traveled countries but not the local culture. But after the close interaction with young creatives from all other places within the week of AdFest, I've discovered a lot of cultural phenomena simply through chatting with them. Only in Asia, there are so many perspectives. I can't imagine that in the whole world. Before the trip, I always thought that I had a broader perspective towards the world than my friends. However, after meeting people from different countries, I now feel like it's the time to readjust my 'worldview'.

Lo: When we read foreign books or watch foreign movies, we'll learn about their culture. But spending five full days with people from 14 countries was a true feat in placing myself in a foreign environment to absorb others' culture. If you're a people-observer, there are many 'little' things, which are engaging. For example, the passion of the Filipinos, the delicacy of the Japanese, the energy of Koreans and the diversity of Malaysians… there are so many touching things that can't be described in words.

Within 24 hours, a group of two people is required to finish a job. What's the process? What did you feel?
Chou: Although it was the first time I've worked with Jamie, the whole process was smooth. Since we had different backgrounds, there was no burden to develop concepts and we were able to throw ideas and analyze each other's ideas. During our discussions, we came up with a lot of concepts. In fact, it was quite hard for us to choose a single idea for developing the campaign. But, we did it finally. So I would say it was a pretty successful operation!

Lo: It's really not so different from my usual work. But this time, no one would help me. The whole process went smoothly, we talked about a lot of ideas, and these ideas evolved into a few other sets of concepts. It's not difficult for us to develop ideas. The most difficult part was to choose a single and final idea for our campaign. It's not easy. During the process we talked about how to present our idea and how to make our campaign memorable. Finally, we decided not to develop a TV commercial, print ad but we made the campaign as a full-year activity. Though it was the first time we worked together, it was a pleasant experience.

During the trip, do you have any unforgettable things?
Chou: The whole trip was memorable especially the McCann Party and the Walking Street dancing night. I enjoyed dancing that night with all young creatives even I am not a person good at dancing.

How does the AdFest trip affect your career?
Chou: After coming back, I would like to rethink what is "award winning ads". In the past, I just treated my duties as part of my work only. After work, I would come back home and sleep. I won't care whether my creative work could stand out from the crowd in the competition or not. At present, most of the award-winning ads in Taiwan are scam ads, but to a certain extent I don't agree with that practice. After the trip I have changed my mind. In fact, we won't be able to create award-winning ads everyday. But we couldn't ignore the importance of trying every efforts to do outstanding award-winning ads because those ads tip the scales in the industry and if you want to further develop your career in the industry, you should try to create award-winning ads. If we can create an ad that helps client standout from the crowd in awards show, it will be mutually beneficial for both ad agency and client.

Lo: After seeing those great creative work and so many talented creatives at AdFest, I find myself humbled. When I went back to Taiwan, I gave my online gaming account to my friends, and have decided not to play online games anymore. But it is impossible to strengthen my creativity within a short period of time. Boosting my creativity is just like improving language abilities. This Thailand trip to the AdFest was truly an eye-opening experience for me, and I will work extra hard to produce good work. I hope when I attend the AdFest next time, I won't be a young creative anymore, but an award winner.

Overall, what did you feel?
Chou: When I was back, people only would like to know more about Pattaya. And I just said that the place was wonderful and I wouldn't want to come back. Of course it's not just because of the beautiful scenery, but also because this trip was an eye-opening experience journey, which let people learn more and get more. I made new friends in the trip and I learned new things from them.

Lo: No matter what you are doing, you should always keep an open-minded. Being a creative, we normally don't have enough time for leisure time and we work to rule. Therefore it's really a great trip as I could have chances to widen my own horizon.

Hong Kong

Copywriter
Kiu Chan – M & C Saatchi, Hong Kong

Number of years in the industry
2.5 years

How did you get into the industry?
Interview, interview, interview, interview, interview, interview, interview, hired