Yasuharu Sasaki Named Grand Jury President
May 29, 2026
- Business & Services
- Awards & Certifications
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- Dentsu Wins “Network of the Year” for the Tenth Time in Five Consecutive Years at ADFEST 2026 -
Dentsu (Brand: dentsu; Headquarters: Dentsu Group Inc.; Location: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & Global CEO: Takeshi Sano, hereinafter Dentsu Group Inc. and its group companies are collectively referred to as “dentsu”) announced that Yasuharu (Yasu) Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer, has been appointed Grand Jury President at ADFEST* 2026, one of Asia’s leading celebrations of creativity. In addition, Yasu was selected as Jury President for the following four Lotuses.
The role of Grand Jury President at ADFEST was bestowed upon a creative leader of outstanding international achievement and influence. As the Grand Jury President, Yasu led the panel Jury Presidents in judging ADFEST’s unique Lotus category, the Lotus Roots, and also the Grande for Humanity. ADFEST regards him as a creative superstar, who not only led as Grand Jury President, but also delivered a keynote speech to wrap up ADFEST 2026.
| Creative Strategy Lotus | awards creative problem solving with perceptive insights to devise a creative strategy that enhances that brand |
| Effective Lotus | awards works that are not only creative, but also have significant and measurable impact |
| INNOVA Lotus | recognizes their level of genuine innovation, talk-value, and results |
| Sustainable Lotus | recognizes transformational change grounded in the SDGs and positively impact the world and its people |
The festival was held in Pattaya, Thailand from March 19 to 21, and dentsu won “Network of the Year” for the most creative network (group of companies), for the tenth time in five consecutive years.
Dentsu Inc., the core company of dentsu Japan that overseas and manages the Group’s Japan business, also won the two special awards, “Agency of the Year” for the most creative single agency (company) and “East Asia Agency of the Year.” This was the 12th time in four consecutive years that Dentsu Inc. won “Agency of the Year” and the three consecutive years that it won “East Asia Agency of the Year”, which was newly established in 2024. Meanwhile, Dentsu Creative India, the India office of Dentsu Creative, the Group’s creative agency brand for its international business, received two awards, “Media Agency of the Year” and “South Asia Agency of the Year”.
Please see below website for details:
ADFEST 2026: Yasuharu Sasaki on “Humanizing Brands” in the Age of AI (Dentsu-ho, April 23, 2026)
https://dentsu-ho.com/en/articles/9705
*ADFEST, was established in 1998 and is one of the leading advertising awards in Asia including the Pacific and the Middle East.
For more information, please visit the ADFEST website.
URL: https://www.adfest.com/
Contact:
Jumpei Kojima, Akiko Shimadzu, Emi Harada
Group Corporate Communications Office, Dentsu Group Inc.
Email: group-cc@dentsu.com
