South Korea’s MAD STARS has announced the jury panels for its Young Stars and New Stars MAD Competitions 2026, with 16 creative leaders drawn from agencies including VML, Dentsu, Saatchi & Saatchi, Hakuhodo, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Publicis Groupe, Horizon FCB, Cheil Worldwide, Innocean, and ADK Marketing Solutions.
The panels span markets across Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Oceania.
Young Stars is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students of all majors worldwide. New Stars is open to marketing, advertising, and related creative communications professionals with fewer than five years of experience.
Applications are open for both competitions. Young Stars closes on May 25, 2026, and New Stars closes on June 4, 2026.
Both competitions begin with an online preliminary round, with selected teams advancing to the on-site final in Busan from August 25 to 28 at Signiel Busan. At the on-site final, participants respond to a live brief and have approximately 30 hours to develop a campaign idea and execution proposal. Active industry practitioners evaluate the work based on strategy, creativity, and execution, with the jury providing direct feedback.
Finalists also join the full MAD STARS 2026 program, including conferences, special sessions, and networking with creative professionals.
Young Stars Jury
The Young Stars jury will be led by Chow Kok Keong, Creative Partner at k2x.
The Young Stars jury also includes:
Chandu Rajapreyar: Group Executive Creative Director, Hakuhodo International Vietnam
Enkhbayasgalan Tungalag: Chief Executive Officer, KMG Group
Karan Novas: Partner and Chief Creative Officer, Tulom
Mark Verhagen: Executive Creative Director, VML
Shinichi Kobayashi: Executive Creative Director and Creative Innovation Officer, ADK Marketing Solutions Inc.
Sunghyuk Hong: Executive Creative Director, Innocean
Youji Noh: Executive Creative Director, TBWA\Media Arts Lab
New Stars Jury
Leading the New Stars jury is Mukund Olety, Chief Creative Officer of Open X at VML, currently leading creative for The Coca-Cola Company across Europe.
The New Stars jury also includes:
Alex Pineda: Chief Creative Officer, Horizon FCB Dubai
Hyeah Nahm: Executive Creative Director, Publicis Groupe Korea
Kayoung Seo: Creative Director, Cheil Korea
Kinami Hasegawa: Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Inc.
Martin Tsai: Business and Creative Partner, SAATCHI & SAATCHI
Michael Ahmadzadeh: Co-Founder, electriclimeº
Roman Carlo Olivarez: Executive Creative Director, TREYNA Group Philippines
Participants may apply individually or as part of a two-person team through the official Young Stars and New Stars application pages.
