Goafest 2024: Industry leaders to share insights & experiences

Goafest 2024 will be held from 29th to 31st May, 2024 at Westin Powai, Mumbai. The 17th edition of the festival will see the coming together of industry experts, seasoned professional and distinguished leaders from advertising and marketing world. The festival will include three days of learnings, discussions, and deliberations and also the celebration of creative excellence. Goafest 2024 has unveiled its power-packed agenda for the upcoming edition which includes keynote sessions, fireside chats and panel discussions on the festival's theme ‘The Age of Adaptability'.

The festival will host over 50 speakers and entertainers, across 20+ sessions in addition to 15+ masterclasses. Tata Play’s Managing Director and CEO, Harit Nagpal and Sanjiv Mehta, Executive Chairman, L Catterton India, are among the select few who will address attendees through keynotes.

On Day 1, Harit Nagpal, Managing Director & CEO, Tata Play, will share insights on the topic ‘Adapt To Thrive Not Just Survive’ while Sanjiv Mehta, Executive Chairman, L Catterton India will throw light on the topic ‘Navigating The Age Of Adaptability’. This will be followed by a fireside chat between Tahira Kashyap, Writer And Film Director And Atika Farooqui Anchor/Creative Director, Viacom18 on the topic ‘From Setbacks To Comebacks: The Power Of Persistence’. The next would be a chat between Bollywood celebrities Medha Shankr, Vikrant Massey on the topic ‘Embracing Failure to Touch Success’ which will be moderated by Neha Dhupia.

On Day 2 of Goafest 2024, an expert panel of renowned faces from the media world will come together and discuss the topic 'Evolving market landscape: The new normal'. The panellists include Darshana Shah, Head, Marketing & Customer Experience, Aditya Birla Capital; Kranti Gada, Managing Committee Member, IAA India Chapter & Founder of Neown.in; Chandni Shah, Chief Operating Officer, FCB Kinnect; Ram Madhvani, Filmmaker, Producer, Founder, Equinox Films, Ram Madhvani Films & Equinox Virtual; Kailashnath Adhikari, Business Head, Sri Adhikari Brothers & Managing Director, Governance Now and Raj Deepakdas, CCO Publicis Groupe South Asia & Chairman Leo Burnett South Asia.

The next would be a keynote address by Pulkit Trivedi, Managing Director, India, Snap Inc on the opic ‘How Snapchat became the preferred platform for young India’. Following this will be a media Agencies Panel where industry heads will share insights on the topic ‘The changing expectations from a media client leader, and the challenges in getting there’. The panellists include Vikram Sakhuja, Partner and Group CEO, Media And OOH, Madison Communication Pvt. Ltd; Vaishali Verma, CEO, Initiative India Pvt. Ltd; Ajay Gupte, CEO, South Asia, Wavemaker; Anita Kotwani, CEO, Media, South Asia, dentsu and Tanmay Mohanty, CEO, Publicis Media Services.

The next panel discussion will be on the topic ‘Trust or Bust: Thriving in the Digital World’ and the panellists will be Sharan Hegde, Founder of The 1% Club and Finance Content Creator; Amit Doshi Chief Marketing Officer, Britannia; Paras Sharma Director Of Global Partnerships, Meta, India; Dr. Falguni Vasavada-Oza Professor & Chair, Marketing Academic Area, MICA and Manisha Kapoor CEO & Secretary General, ASCI.

This will be followed by a fireside chat between Mahesh Shetty, National Sales Head, Viacom18; Ankit Kapoor, Head of Marketing &International Business, Parle Agro; Shibani Gharat, Senior Anchor and Associate Executive Producer, CNBC TV18 and Navin Khemka, CEO, South Asia Essence Mediacom. Next would be a chat on the topic ‘A Story of Adaptability: From the Silver Screen to the Mobile Screen' with veteran Bollywood actress Zeenat Aman and RJ Anmol.

This will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘Marketing Adaptability: Blending Traditional And New-Age’ where several leaders like Chandan Mukherjee, Director & Executive Vice President, Nestle; Sukhleen Aneja Chief Executive Officer, The Good Glamm Group; Delshad Irani Editor, Storyboard18; Zairus Master Chief Business Officer, Honasa Consumer Ltd; Sandeep Karwa Vice President, Flipkart And Shubhranshu Singh Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles will share insights.

On Day 3, an expert panel with Ambika Muttoo, Editor-In-Chief, Femina; Bollywood actress Tamannaah Bhatia; Prajakta Koli aka MostlySane, Leading Content Creator, Actor and Climate Activist and singer Shilpa Rao Singer will come together to discuss ‘Indian Women Harnessing the Power Of Identity’. This will be followed by a chat between Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe, South Asia and Dr. Marcus Ranney, Founder and CEO, Human Edge on the topic - Secrets of Longevity: Adapting our lifestyles to increase our ‘Healthspan’.

Gaurav Jeet Singh, Head of Agency Business, India, Meta, will speak on the topic ‘Do More With Conversations’ while Neelesh Misra, Indian Journalist & Author, Radio Storyteller, Scriptwriter and Lyricist will share insights on the topic ‘The Art of Storytelling’.

This will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘Customer-Centric Adaptability; Meeting Shifting Expectations; Maintaining Customer Loyalty in a dynamic environment’. The panellists include Asha Kharga, Chief Customer & Brand Officer, Mahindra Group; Siddharth Roy Kapur, Founder & MD, Roy Kapur Films; Anuradha SenGupta, Founder, anuradhasays and Tarun Puri, Senior Operating Partner, Lighthouse Funds.

Next would be a panel discussion on the topic ‘Adaptability And Innovation: The Cornerstones Of A Future-Ready Agency’ and the panellists would be Arun Iyer, Founder & Managing Partner, Spring Marketing Capital; Babita Baruah, Chief Executive Officer, VML India; Dheeraj Sinha, Group CEO - India and South Asia, FCB Group India and Anusha Shetty, Chairperson & Group CEO, Grey Group, India. This will be followed by a chat between Sunil Kataria, Chief Executive Officer, Raymond Lifestyle (India & International); Anuradha SenGupta, Founder, anuradhasays and Shashank Srivastava, Member Executive Committee, Maruti Suzuki on the topic ‘Evolving Consumer Behaviours: Navigating The New Normal’.

Experts including Pawan Bansal, COO, Jagran Engage & Chairman IOAA (Indian Outdoor Advertising Association); Noomi Mehta, Chairman of the Board, Selvel One Group; Jahan Mehta, Chief Growth Officer, Oap Mediatech and Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World, will have an insightful chat on the topic ‘OOH - Adapting to be accountable’.

Following this will be a chat between Cricket Legend & Former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and Boria Majumdar, Indian sports journalist, sports historian and writer on the topic ‘Embracing Change: Lessons From The Field To Life’ and the last session of the day will be on the topic ‘The Art Of Adaptability: From Real Life to Reel Life’ with Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee and Prasoon Joshi, Chairman McCann Worldgroup, Asia Pacific CEO & CCO McCann Worldgroup, India.

In addition to Goafest sessions, Goafest 2024 will host the second edition of its talent showcase, ‘Advertising Rocks’. Moreover, making way for wholesome entertainment will be performances by Sukhwinder Singh and Harshdeep Kaur.