Dentsu's Sasaki to Lead ADFEST 2026 Jury Across 5 Categories
Dentsu's Global CCO Yasuharu Sasaki will lead ADFEST 2026 jury across strategy, effectiveness, innovation and sustainability categories—signaling the festival's evolution beyond traditional creativ...
Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer of dentsu, will serve as Grand Jury President at ADFEST 2026, leading the panel of Jury Presidents in judging the Lotus Roots category. He will also serve as Jury President for the Creative Strategy Lotus, Effective Lotus, INNOVA Lotus, and Sustainable Lotus categories.
The appointment spans four distinct judging areas, positioning Sasaki to evaluate work across strategy, measurable results, innovation, and environmental impact. He will also deliver a keynote speech at the event.
30-Year Career Culminates in Global Role
Sasaki, based in Tokyo, was appointed Global Chief Creative Officer in October 2023, capping a 30-year career at dentsu. He continues to serve as Chief Creative Officer in Tokyo and previously spent seven years as Executive Creative Director.
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During that period, he became one of the youngest Executive Officers at the agency, overseeing one of the largest creative teams in the world. He now leads dentsu's global Creative Practice, including Dentsu Creative, and is responsible for setting creative standards and fostering a culture of innovation across the company.
Sasaki began his career as a copywriter at dentsu in 1995. With a background in computer science, he was an early advocate for interactive advertising and founded Dentsu Lab Tokyo in 2014.
Focus on Work That Creates Change
"I believe the highest form of creativity is work that creates discontinuous change, work that shifts reality," said Sasaki. "Such work moves people deeply. In other words, it produces both surprise and empathy. It makes us feel something unexpected, and it makes us recognize something true."
The appointment reflects ADFEST's judging structure, which evaluates creative work across multiple dimensions beyond traditional advertising categories. The Creative Strategy Lotus recognizes work grounded in business thinking, while the Effective Lotus measures real-world impact. The INNOVA Lotus highlights groundbreaking ideas, and the Sustainable Lotus awards campaigns addressing environmental and social challenges.
Regional Creative Leadership Evolution
Sasaki's role as Grand Jury President positions him to evaluate entries from across the Asia-Pacific region. The Lotus Roots category he will lead brings together all Jury Presidents to determine the festival's highest honors.
His computer science background and early work in interactive advertising positioned him ahead of digital transformation trends that reshaped the industry over the past three decades. The founding of Dentsu Lab Tokyo in 2014 formalized his commitment to exploring emerging technologies and new creative approaches.
ADFEST 2026 brings together creative professionals from across the Asia-Pacific region to recognize outstanding work in advertising, marketing communications, and related fields.
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