The annual Busan International Advertising Festival, also known as AD Stars, kicks off Friday at BEXCO with world-renowned creative directors attending.

Under the theme of “Digital Humanism,” the three-day festival will offer industry experts a chance to share their ideas on marketing and creativity in the digital era.

The list of celebrities in the global advertising industry who are participating in the festival includes Coca-Cola vice president Jonathan Mildenhall, Cheil Worldwide executive director Kim Hong-tak and Dentsu’s creative director Akira Kagami.

“The Busan International Advertising Festival will serve as a venue for experts from 57 countries to compete with each other,” said Lee Eui-ja, co-chair of the executive committee of AD Stars.

“It will also provide a vehicle for the public to learn and get a feel for global advertising trends through free exhibitions, AD School, and seminars,” Lee added.

The festival, now in its fifth run, received 10,431 entries from 57 countries last month, proving its growing popularity in the global advertising scene. A total of 1,474 advertising works passed preliminary screening by 146 judges from around the world.

Works of finalists will be on display on the first floor of the Convention Hall of BEXCO, the committee said.

Along with competitions, the festival holds AD School, a free program designed to help the public foster creativity. The list of lecturers includes Kash Sree, chief creative officer at SS+K and Han Jeong-seok, senior managing director at Innocean.

The committee has named actress Hwang Jeong-eum as publicity ambassador for the event. Hwang will attend the opening ceremony, it added.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)