Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival Opens on the 27th.. Exploring the Present and Future of the Advertising Industry

[Financial News]  Asia's largest international advertising festival, 'Busan International Marketing Advertising Festival' (MAD STARS 2025), will be held from the 27th to the 29th at Signiel Busan and Haeundae in Busan. It will explore the present and future of the advertising industry where artificial intelligence and human creativity coexist. 
The theme of this year's 18th edition is 'AI-vertising, the Era of Artificial Intelligence Advertising Marketing'. The organizers will present actual cases of how the combination of AI technology and creativity changes the entire process of planning, production, and distribution.
The competition and judging were conducted in stages. From early February, entries from around the world were received for about four months, and 302 judges from 74 countries completed the online preliminaries. Subsequently, a final judging panel consisting of 34 judges from 20 countries will conduct three evaluations, and the main award winners, including the 'Grand Prix of the Year' with two pieces, will be announced at the awards ceremony held at Signiel Busan on August 29.
The conference track comprehensively covers industry trends. Jonghyun Kim, CEO of Cheil Worldwide, will deliver a keynote speech on 'Providing Continuous Value to Clients in the AI Era', and Alex Abrantes, CCO of Iris Worldwide North America, will speak on 'Creative Strategies Beyond Technological Limits'.
Samer Lahoud, Head of Creative Strategy at Snap Inc. MENA, will present 'Augmenting Creativity: The Intersection of AR, AI, and Culture'. The entire lecture is organized into about 40 sessions.
Speakers connecting popularity and expertise will also take the stage, and next-generation talent programs will be conducted in parallel. Registration and operation information can be found on the official website. Detailed information on the conference schedule, speakers, sessions, awards ceremony, and competition participation rules will be announced sequentially, and some programs may change depending on the on-site situation.
Sung-hwan Lim, Director of Media Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "In the changing environment where new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and new services like FAST are spreading, the domestic advertising industry is also entering a new phase," and added, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue to support the advertising industry facing these changes." 


rsunjun@fnnews.com Yuseon Jun, Reporter