‘Goafest 2024 actioned the theme of adaptability by moving from Goa to Mumbai’

As the excitement builds up for the upcoming Goafest, we got talking to the core committee members of Goafest 2024 - Jaideep Gandhi, Chairman of the Organising Committee, and Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Group India and the Co-chair. 

Joshi and Gandhi shared their vision for and expectations from this year's festival, which aims to celebrate the best in advertising, media and marketing with a dash of entertainment.  

Goafest is slated to be held in Mumbai between May 29 to 31. 

While the agenda and list of speakers are likely to be released by tomorrow, details of some Masterclasses have been uploaded on the website Thursday morning.

https://www.goafest.com/goafest2024/event-schedule.php 

On Impact on Brand Goafest

How does the move to shift the Goafest from Goa to Mumbai reflect on the branding of the event that has always been associated with Goa?

“The decision to shift the Goafest from Goa to Mumbai was taken due to logistical issues in the election year. Everybody's curious to know how it is going to happen. So, I think that that's the fundamental thing which we have achieved,” quips Gandhi. 

Joshi responds, “This year the theme was the Age of Adaptability and we showed it in action by adapting ourselves and moving from Goa to Mumbai in a situation that required that to be done.”

“We have got over 4 digits. Over two third of them are below 35. Besides, a large number of people just walk in at the fest and get registered. There's been no impact of the shift to Mumbai,” says Gandhi. 

Last year there were 45 sponsors. We have almost got the same number of sponsors this year as well.  Snapchat is the co-presenter this time, the duo shared, adding that the fest will be back to Goa next year. 

“We work almost six months a year to make this happen. This year, we had to do that activity in two months”, Goafest officials told e4m. 

On relevance of the theme

“Adaptability is a very important element, especially for industries like ours, where we have to change, we have to adapt to the changing trends, consumer trends, and new media platforms. This is the ethos of the industry. We produce great work. We have been adaptable to celebrate and to acknowledge that-yes, we are here for this,” says Gandhi. 

“The client's marketing environment is changing. So there is upskilling, reskilling, happening everywhere. Every session touches upon adaptability, even the celebrities who are coming will talk about how they have adapted from one environment to the other environment,” Joshi stated. 

Content-wise, it is very interesting to have clients, industry bodies like IAA, ISA, IBDF, IOAA are participating in it as the entire industry is witnessing a lot of changes. Some like ISA and IOAA will hold sessions as well, says Gandhi. 

More evolved and crisp content 

How do you ensure that this season's festival is better in terms of content and speakers compared to last year? 

Gandhi shared, “Last year was the first time when we had clients also a part of the festival. We have even more clients this time. When the clients come, there is always more seriousness, more participation and integration between the agency and the clients.”

We have kept a very good mix of entertainment, education and skill development this time. For example, we have people like Neelesh Mishra talking about storytelling. We have evolved even more compared from last year, and the content is much tighter. We have close to 45 speakers and 20 sessions and 15 plus masterclasses happening. So it's a very packed environment, Gandhi and Joshi noted. 

Notably, WhatsApp, Amazon Ads, SnapChat and TTD are among those which will hold masterclasses this year.  

Fest for youth

Over two-third of registrations are from delegates below 30, says Gandhi. 

He adds, “Skill development is a new element that we incorporated this year. We have a special category for below 30 as well. I see a lot of opportunity for the youth to be a part of it. We are trying to get more and more speakers, who are also of the age parities. We are going to do workshops with a limited number of people. It's going to be a very focused workshop on different areas of the industry.”

Global Vision 

“Pradeep Guha had once said that Goafest should become the central event of industries. He wanted it to become so big that all industries participated,” Gandhi recalls. 

He also recalled ad veteran Sam Balsara words. “Balsara said in 2022 that Goafest should become so big that you book the Goa Club Cricket stadium for it. So we are working towards it and hope to achieve this goal in the next two or three years. We would also like to have more industry bodies including international ones and sponsorship from international brands. We also want to create one new IP each year to offer new experiences every year.”