Asia's Largest International Advertising Festival '2023 Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival' Held

From 23rd to 25th at BEXCO, Programs Including Exhibitions, Screenings, Conferences, and Competitions Prepared

22,820 Entries from 63 Countries... Expecting the Strength of Asia's Largest International Advertising Festival

Asia's largest and the only international advertising festival in Korea, the ‘Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival,’ will open on the 23rd!

2023 Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival (MAD STARS 2023).

Busan City announced that the ‘2023 Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival (MAD STARS 2023)’ will be held for three days from the 23rd to the 25th at BEXCO Convention Hall.

Marking its 16th edition this year, the ‘Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival’ is organized by the Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival Organizing Committee and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Busan City.

Under the theme ‘REBOOT! Restarting with new strategies after the pandemic,’ the festival aims to break free from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, seek new growth opportunities, and serve as a platform to share creative ideas from around the world.

The event features a variety of attractions that anyone interested in marketing, advertising, and digital content can enjoy, including the opening ceremony, exhibitions, conferences, and competitions for industry professionals.

Specifically, the opening ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. on August 23, and the awards ceremony at 5 p.m. on August 25. From August 23 to 25, exhibitions such as award-winning works, new technology experience zones, and the Global MAD Business Market booth zone will be available, along with conferences featuring practical lectures by global experts in marketing, advertising, digital technology, and video. Additionally, from August 22 to 25, competitions for junior advertisers and university students from around the world will take place.

This year’s Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival will showcase 2,057 finalists from 47 countries selected out of 20,282 entries submitted from 63 countries (1,886 in the professional category and 171 in the general category). Notably, the number of entries increased by 9.5% compared to last year, demonstrating the festival’s status as Asia’s largest international advertising festival.

The ‘Exhibition’ will introduce creative advertising campaign cases from around the world that are changing the world.

Also featured are the ‘Green Challenge’ campaign promoting the main and sub-themes of the 2030 Busan World Expo and encouraging participation in climate change response, as well as the ‘New Technology Experience Zone’ where visitors can directly experience AI avatars and immersive content.

Furthermore, the ‘Global MAD Business Market,’ involving domestic and international advertising, marketing, digital content, and video-related organizations and companies, will also be held.

The conference is divided into the ‘Main Conference’ for industry experts to review the latest industry trends and the ‘Meet-up,’ which is free and open to anyone interested in advertising, marketing, and digital content, with a total of 42 lectures.

At the ‘Main Conference,’ Ali Rez, Regional Creative Director of Impact BBDO, a leading Middle Eastern advertising agency, and Nayla Tueni, publisher and editor-in-chief of Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper, will give lectures on the theme ‘Change the Way of Creation: Creativity and Courage that Drive Change.’

Despite the ongoing war, Svitlana Stepanenko from the Ukrainian Advertising Association will participate as a speaker, sharing cases of fighting for peace and freedom through advertising under the theme ‘Crisis and Transition in the Ukrainian Advertising Industry: Finding New Opportunities in War.’

Additionally, renowned photojournalist Hyungwon Kang (former White House photographer and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner) will lecture on how to create authentic advertising campaigns based on photojournalism. Hojoon Kang, former CEO of Daekyo (an education platform for all generations from infants to seniors), will reflect on the changes in South Korea’s education services during the pandemic and suggest directions. Ojeuk Oh, CEO of Diobi Studio (producer of the ‘KB Life Insurance Advertisement’ depicting actress Youn Yuh-jung’s life from her 20s to the present), will discuss the challenges and future of virtual humans.

Meanwhile, at the ‘Meet-up Conference,’ popular creator Tanaka (comedian Kim Kyung-wook), selected as the 2023 Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival ambassador, will participate as a speaker, directly communicating with the audience and revealing his unique branding strategy that made him an irreplaceable creator.

Busan City’s official communication character ‘Boogi’ will also participate to interact with attendees and foster broad civic interest in Busan.

In addition, with the recovery from COVID-19, the ‘New Stars’ and ‘Young Stars’ competition programs for discovering and nurturing new domestic and international creators will return offline after four years.

‘New Stars’ and ‘Young Stars’ are advertising competitions where participants create video or print advertisements on given themes within a set time, learning industry know-how and trends through judging and feedback.

Sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Child Rights Protection Agency, ‘New Stars’ will feature 95 junior advertisers with less than five years of experience from nine countries, while ‘Young Stars,’ supported by the Low Birthrate and Aging Society Committee, will include 97 university students from five countries.

Notably, ‘Young Stars’ winners will be offered internship opportunities at 14 companies including Cheil Worldwide, Daehong Communications, and HS Ad, supporting their transition to actual employment.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun emphasized, “The creativity level of Korean advertising and the use of advertising technology (ad tech) in content and digital customized advertising (signage) are already highly recognized overseas. Through this year’s Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival, which has expanded its scope to marketing and digital content in line with global trends, Busan City will continue to actively support efforts to widely promote the technology and creativity of our advertising to the world.”

For more detailed information about the event, please visit the official website of the Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.