Mastoshi Usami, Creative Director at TBWA\HAKUHODO has been selected as a jury member for ADFEST 2024, one of the APAC region’s leading advertising awards. Masatoshi will be acting as jury member for the Design Lotus and Print & Outdoor Craft Lotus categories.

Joining Hakuhodo in 2009, Masatoshi has continually strived for creativity to bring about innovation in society. He brought his considerable talents over to TBWA\HAKUHODO, where he has been a creative force within the agency since 2018. He is the proud recipient of Gold in the Innovation category at Cannes Lions 2023, a first win of its kind for a Japan-based creative. Needless to say, his reputation as a creative mind to be reckoned with is known both domestically and internationally.

Masatoshi is also the proud recipient of more than 150 awards and accolades including the Clio Awards, D&AD, Creative of the Year Medalist 2022 and the Japan Media Arts Festival. He brought disruptive and meaningful creative change to the world through projects such as “SHELLMET” (an environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic safety helmets, made from discarded seashells) and the “Sound-Free Concert” to deliver the enjoyment of music to the hearing impaired. In his capacity as juror in ADFEST 2024, he will participate in important discussions with his peers about the endurance of human creativity in the age of AI, focusing on the central theme for this year, “Human Intelligence”.

Masatoshi offered the following comment on his excitement at being selected as member of the jury.

“The overarching theme for ADFEST 2024 is “Human Intelligence”. It is no surprise that this topic should take center stage, considering how much global discussion is taking place about AI in recent years, such as Humankind versus AI, and Humankind working hand-in-hand with AI.
With perspectives still shifting and discussions circling, I am deeply curious to find out what kind of answers we will elucidate at this year’s festival. The categories of Design and Print & Outdoor Craft, for which I will be judging, are disciplines which remain relatively “hands-on”, but at the same time I am reminded of the many technological innovations of the past that have become everyday design tools in use today. These evolutions have brought about entirely new expressions, and I for one am very excited to see what glimpses of the future will make me shiver with excitement in the tropical heat of Pattaya.”

TBWA\HAKUHODO will continue to foster diverse talent to initiate meaningful change in society through creativity, innovation and disruption.

■Masatoshi Usami：

After joining Hakuhodo in 2009, Masatoshi brought his considerable talents over to TBWA\HAKUHODO in 2018. He has been the recipient of more than 150 awards both internationally and domestically including the Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, D&AD, the Japan Marketing Awards and the Japan Media Arts Festival to name a few. He has also been selected as an outstanding young leader for Campaign’s “40 under 40”. He is the mind behind numerous campaigns that have shaped Japanese hearts and minds, such as “Live for the extraordinary” (Meta Quest 2),  “Japan Revengers” (Tokyo Revengers),　“Attack on Titan final volume release LED movie” (Attack on Titan), and “Advertising regulations means I must hold a mackerel” (The Fable). His focus is on bringing meaningful changes to society via his creativity cultivated through advertising.