The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST), the Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor PARK Heong-joon), and the MAD Stars Organizing Committee will hold the MAD STARS 2022, the only international advertising festival combining creativity with the state-of-the art technology, at BEXCO Busan and via online (www.adstars.org) from Aug 25 (Thu) to 27 (Sat) to “Find Mad ideas that will change the world”.

Due to the COVID-19, the event is held offline in three years. This year event expanded the program to include marketing and digital transformation to reflect the changes in the advertising industry, and also changed the English name of the festival to “Marketing & Advertising, MAD STARS”. This year with the theme of “Find MAD Ideas to Change the World.”, this international event will share creative communication methods from all over the world.

A total of 18,922 works from 73 countries submitted their advertising pieces this year, the largest number of participating countries ever. Among those works, 1,745 works from 58 countries (1,582 from experts and 163 from non-experts) advanced to the finals, and various excellent works will be seen during the festival.

The major award-winning works, including the two Grand Prizes of the Year, will be announced through an awards ceremony held at BEXCO, Busan on Aug 27 (Sat) 5 pm and also via online. In addition, a special event will be dedicated to Ukrainian advertisers who delivered messages about anti-war and peace despite the suffering of life-threatening warfare  through this year's MAD STARS.

In addition, as this year’s festival is held in three years time after the Pandemic, there are various events that are waiting for participants: Exhibitions (including exhibition of award-winning works, new technology experience space, and promotion for 2030 Busan World Expo), Academic conferences (practical lectures by incumbent experts in each field such as advertising, marketing, video, digital transformation), and Business markets (business partnerships, business agreements, and conferences).

This year's academic conference consists of 45 lectures and is delivered in two parts: for professionals and for general public. Professional advertisers, such as Philip Kotler (Professor at Northwestern University in the US), who is called as the father of modern marketing, famous creators, broadcasters, and advertising directors will participate as speakers. The Global MAD Academy (Practical education and training course for advertisers), which started last year, will also run offline and also via online after MAD STARS is over.

In particular, business market, which newly established this year, will help to network business operators for making profits. About 150 companies from eight countries will participate in various promotions for their businesses. In addition, a several business agreement ceremonies for mutual business exchange and added value creation between domestic and foreign advertising-related organizations and individual companies will be held.

MCST official said “As this is the first on-site event in three years, the event has prepared a variety of programs as the enthusiasm of advertisers is high.” Also added that the government hopes that participants and visitors will gain insight for the future growth tasks, including digital transformation through the event. Taking this opportunity, MCST will actively support for the growth of the advertising industry in the future.

For more information on the MAD STARS 2022, please visit the official website (www.adstars.org).