A team from HCM City-based advertising agency G2/Grey Group has become the first from Vietnam to win the global issue cover design competition held by US magazine Ad Age.

Creative planner Nguyen Tuong Luan, art director Nguyen An Hoa, and copywriter Do Duy Thien now go to the renowned Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this year.

Ad Age, a global magazine providing news, trends, data, and analyses for the marketing and media communities, had called for ideas and designs for their global cover issue.

Entries had to convey the topic of Ad Age's Global Issue published each June focusing on the international advertising and marketing scene, multinational marketers and their strategies, and how brands connect with consumers in regions around the world.

G2/Grey Group, a global ad agency, said after hours of brainstorming in the office, the three had still been stuck for an idea and decided to go out on the street for change at 11pm one night when they chanced upon a stained-glass façade of a cathedral with its multiple colours dancing through a prism.

It sparked off a chain of visuals, and "the kaleidoscope" was born.

Luan explained the concept: "The patterns in a kaleidoscope are multiple and diverse and the chance of seeing the same [again] is very small.

"Our world is the same; each individual is different. But we observed that individuals while differing by outlook, aspirations, values and cultures, share a special affinity and common ground with others via brands”./.