Bangkok--21 Mar--Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Preparations are underway for the 11th Asia Pacific Advertising Festival (ADFEST) 2008 kick off at the Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall (PEACH), Royal Cliff Beach Resort Hotel slated from 26 to 29 March 2008. This year’s ADFEST theme is “REiNVENT”, a call for all members of the advertising industry in the region to further explore and ride the wave of the rising digital media trend and changing consumers’ behavior. A new ADFEST logo has also been created along with a new ADFEST 2008 icon which aims to inspire people to take a new approach in thinking and doing things. The new icon represents the mind of an agency person as he thinks of new ways on how to “Re-invent”. The arrows emerging from the icon’s head reflects the various possible directions in which creative ideas are inspired. Mr. Vinit Suraphongchai, the permanent Chairman of ADFEST Working Committee, said, “ADFEST is the most recognized advertising festival in the Asia Pacific region. We encourage and promote the entire industry to move in the same direction and at the same pace as the digital world and the ever-changing consumers’ behavior. While ADFEST is entering into its second decade, we want to do new things. We want to create more inspirations. “ADFEST believes that “re-invention” is vital for agencies to survive in this rapidly changing world. In the future, media owners will be integrating brands directly into content and editorial. Savvy consumers will be taking control of content and the flow of interaction. This is why reinvention is the theme for 2008. We want to signal that agencies have to evolve and become more different if they are to capture the consumers’ attention.” The festival has been expanded to cover more industries in the advertising and creative world, thus creating two new categories. The first one is the Design Lotus which recognizes excellence in product design, packaging, poster, graphic, exhibition and brand identity. The other is the New Director Lotus which recognizes new and upcoming talented directors and provides them with more opportunities for exposure. ADFEST further incorporates the production industry in its creation of a Production Corner, an area created exclusively for production-related companies to participate. New technology flows across the spectrum of the entire festival management, including entries application and submission capabilities. In an attempt to make the awards presentation ceremony more exciting and different from the previous years, ADFEST is featuring special art performances by “Jean Francois”, a renowned French performance artist who has been gracing the stages of Las Vegas, USA and all over the world. Delegates attending this year’s ADFEST will surely be blown away by Jean Francois’ special brand of performance art. Speaking sessions this year remain as one of the festival’s highlights with 15 sessions by the most distinguished speakers and panelists. Advertising gurus from around the globe have accepted ADFEST’s invitation to share with the delegates their experiences and observations on new trends. The illustrious list includes Tony Davidson of Wieden + Kennedy London on his philosophy to “Walk in Stupid”; Stefan Sagmeister of Sagmeister Inc. New York will share his life lessons in “Things I have learned in my life so far”; Alex Burnard of Crispin Porter + Bogusky Miami will share the secrets of “The Thing”; Japan Advertising Federation returns with A Practical Guide to Planet Japan: An Encyclopedia of Japanese Women; Donald Gunn from “The Gunn Report” who will present the rankings of advertising agencies at international advertising festivals and the winners from the previous ADFEST; Nick Souter, a veteran creative who has been working for more than 15 years in London, Tokyo and Sydney, will speak on “Right Brain Thinking for Left Brain People”; Vinit Suraphongchai will share with the delegates about “The CUP” and how agencies from Asia Pacific fared at this international advertising festival; and Paul Kemp-Robertson of the Contagious magazine, who will inspire the delegates about the art and science of completely immersing the audience in an advertisement with his presentation “What Advertising?” to name a few.About ADFEST Asia Pacific Advertising Festival, or ‘ADFEST’, is an annual regional event consisting of three main activities: competition and exhibition of creative works produced in Asia Pacific; creative seminar or discussion led by leading individuals in the creative and advertising realms; and a forum for advertising, creative and marketing people in the region to meet and exchange views. The event is aimed at raising awareness and standards of advertising work, as well as encouraging related industries to showcase their latest services and technological progress in an exhibition held during the event. Those interested in more details about the festival or in the winning creative works of the year can browse through the Internet at www.adfest.com. For further information : Boonsri Trakulpatanakon Plannova Co., Ltd. Tel. 0 2530 9300 : Wucharaporn Korsangaluck/ Supaporn Masiri Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Ltd. Tel. 0 2205 6640/ 0 2205 6643