Starting in 2027, MAD STARS will spotlight local diversity across cultures and markets,
opening a new pathway for local-language creative work.
27 August 2026
MAD STARS, an international awards program and creative festival spanning marketing, advertising and digital content, based in Busan, South Korea, is marking its 20th anniversary in 2027 by charting a new direction: a global creative platform without language barriers, designed to give the diversity of local languages, cultures and markets a stronger place on the world stage.
For MAD STARS, local diversity means creativity shaped by each market’s distinct language, culture, consumer behavior and social context.
The move challenges a long-standing convention in international creative awards. English has served as a de facto common language, with non-English work typically accompanied by English translations or supporting explanations. MAD STARS wants to create more room for the original language and cultural context of a campaign to play a greater role in how the work is understood, evaluated and shared internationally.
Advertising is shaped by more than the idea itself. Humor, language, consumer behavior, social context and cultural references can all influence why a campaign resonates in a particular market. Work that has a powerful impact locally can lose some of that meaning when those nuances do not travel with it, making it harder to stand out internationally even when it has been highly successful at home.
MAD STARS believes that English may be the common language of global creativity, but it does not need to be the only language through which creativity is discovered.
From 2027, MAD STARS will introduce a new Diversity Insight Track, allowing work to be entered in the language of its market of origin, alongside its existing English-language Global Track.
Widening the Field of View
The ambition goes beyond accepting entries in more languages.
Taken individually, local-language advertising markets may appear niche. Taken together, MAD STARS believes they represent a significant ‘creative long tail’: a largely untapped body of creative work, cultural insight and market knowledge from around the world.
By bringing these niche markets into one international platform, MAD STARS aims to expand the global creative market itself, surfacing ideas and insights from regions that have historically remained less visible on the international stage.
The intention is not to replace established global standards or create another single standard, but to widen the field of view for the industry as a whole.
Breaking Language Barriers with AI
AI-powered multilingual technology will make this shift possible. Its role is not simply technical: by reducing language barriers, it can help preserve more of the linguistic and cultural context behind each campaign.
Beyond submissions, MAD STARS plans to extend multilingual capabilities across judging, exhibitions, conferences, networking and its archive, helping participants engage with the wider festival experience in their own language while reducing the burden of translation.
MAD STARS will work with Bitree, led by Kidong Kim, CEO of Bitree Corporation and Chief AI Officer (CAIO) of MAD STARS, to build and refine its AI-powered multilingual translation and interpretation system.
As it marks its 20th anniversary, MAD STARS aims to evolve into a global creative platform without language barriers — one that embraces global standards while creating more space for local diversity, and gives ideas born in different languages and cultures a stronger route to the world stage.
MAD STARS 2027 will take place in Busan, South Korea, from 25–27 August 2027.
