AdAsia began as a three day Asian Advertising Conference in 1958 sponsored by the Japan International Advertising Association (JIAA). The principal objective of the conference was to give Asian advertising a boost in the post war era. The conference was attended by delegates from six countries including Japan.
The modest conference grew into a congress in the 1960s and was nick named AdAsia in 1984. The success of the first conference laid the foundation for the event to grow into the most important regular gathering of marketing and advertising professionals in Asia. Over time AdAsia has become the continent's most prestigious advertising event.
The AdAsia stage has been graced by distinguished leaders from varied fields including Heads of States from Malaysia & Taiwan, consultants like C.K. Prahalad, Lester Wunderman (the father of direct marketing), Rajat Gupta (former Managing Director of McKinsey & Company); Agency heads like Martin Sorrell (Head-WPP Group), Irwin Gotlieb (CEO - Mindshare); Creative geniuses like Neil French and Piyush Pandey, Indian corporate giants like Mukesh Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, M.S. Banga (former Chairman, Unilever), thinkers like Charles Handy (Author of Elephant and the Flea) and Ricardo Semler (Author of Maverick).
Even the great David Ogilvy put aside his fear of flying to be part of the conference in New Delhi (1982) where he delivered the now prophetic address of the 'Western Hare and Asian Tortoise.' AdAsia was last held in India in 2003 in the pink city of Jaipur. This event is still regarded as the benchmark event in the festival's history. In 2005, Suntec City Singapore hosted the event with an event theme of 'Winning Asia' and witnessed the largest contingent of over 150 members from India.
Jeju 2007 marked the 50 year celebration of AdAsia. The festival was a great showcase of the Korean culture with stellar performances by contemporary percussionists and traditional dancers. The last gathering was held in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia where the host's baton was handed back to India. As a tradition, the penultimate night of the festival is dedicated to the next host and one can look forward to the Vietnamese night at this year's event.
ADASIA 2011 AdAsia returns to India after eight years. In 2003, the AdAsia congress was hosted in Jaipur and was widely regarded as a landmark in the history of the Congress.AdAsia 2011 will not just be about Ads and Asia. It has a far more ambitious vision and seeks to comprehensively explore all aspects of the theme Uncertainty: The New Certainty. The business world is currently at an inflection point witnessing a realignment of global economic leadership. In the 20th Century, the world looked to the West for innovation and progress. In the 21st. century, everyone's attention is riveted on Asia. AdAsia 2011 will thus provide a ready platform to chronicle change of a significant magnitude and provide a glimpse of the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. The prolific agenda of AdAsia 2011 will comprise more than 20 intellectually stimulating sessions aimed at exploring the business ecosystem and understanding the nature of disruption to effectively address pertinent concerns. AdAsia 2011 is being organised under the aegis of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA).
Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA)AFAA was set up in July 1978, when representatives of advertising associations of ten Asian countries reached an unanimous decision to do so, based on the recommendations of a working committee formed at the 10th Asian Advertising Congress held in Sydney in 1976. The current members of the Federation include Advertising Associations from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taipei, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
It's objectives were as follows:
--- Unify all Asian associations involved in the various aspects of advertising
--- Upgrade standards, ethics and practices of advertising and to bring a more meaningful contribution from advertising activities to both regional and national socio-economic development
--- Set up the necessary mechanism for Asian Advertising Congresses
--- Foster self-regulation
--- Devise and implement educational programs.