GoaFest-2009
Sudha Natrajan, President and COO, Lintas Media Group: <br> <p align=justify>GoaFest is always such an invigorating and refreshing experience for me. I’ve seen it improving year on year and it has today attained the stature of being on the world advertising map as an event of high repute. The work and play equation at the event is really good. The weather clouds, too, this time were benevolent and we did not get baked!
The Learning and Knowledge Seminar at GoaFest 2010 concluded with a session featuring two eminent speakers from two top global agencies – Jan Leth, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Digital, and Andy Greenaway, Regional Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi. The two speakers expressed their views on how advertising should now speak the social networking language through advertising under the scanner.
The final day of GoaFest 2010 held a lot of promise for a lot of people. For many, it was the final day of reckoning and glory. For a few, it was an opportunity to let their hair down and party hard. Hopefully, it was a fortunate day for job seekers, and as informed sources tell me, it was ‘pay dirt’ time for the beach shack owners near the GoaFest venue.
The second session of Day 3 at GoaFest 2009 saw George Michaelides, Global Leader (Invention) at Mindshare, conduct a session in which he stressed on the ‘new creativity’, which, according to him, was the need of the hour for advertising agencies. “The new creativity has to be the language of the business in the future,” he affirmed.
Social media has caught on in a big way all over the world, but how can brand managers and advertising agencies cash in on this growing segment? Can it become the centre of digital communications? How does one measure social media? These issues were addressed at a panel discussion on Social Media, which was part of the Knowledge and Learning Seminar on Day 3 at GoaFest 2010.
The final day of GoaFest 2010 ended on a high note for Ogilvy India, which bagged the maximum number of Creative Abby – 43 to be precise (three Golds, nine Silvers and 30 Bronzes). The agency also bagged the Grand Prix in the Integrated category for Vodafone ZooZoos. Nirvana Films, too, took home the Grand Prix for Vodafone ZooZoos.
The country’s top advertising honchos speak about their expectations from the Media Abby Awards that would be presented on Day 2 of GoaFest 2010.
How challenging is it to sell creativity to clients? Are they open to ground-breaking work, or do they prefer to go by the tried and tested? India’s advertising honchos respond.
Shashi Sinha is quite pleased with the way the Media Abbys have gone so far – 484 entries as against 417 last year. Moreover, the quality of entries that have been submitted this year is truly very good and inspirational. According to Sinha, immense progress has been made in the categories of Digital and Internet, and the presentation boards and videos have also improved dramatically.
The touchdown at Dabolim Airport this afternoon (April 8) was smooth and so was the GreyGoose at the hotel when I checked in. I was back in Goa for the 5th edition of the GoaFest, or as I call it, The Annual Advertising Re-Union, with a promise of lots of knowledge, celebration of ideas and a whole lot of fun, says Mudra’s Pratap Bose.
This year’s Conclave can easily be one of the best I have ever attended in the last five years with an array of speakers renowned in their sphere bringing a positive and forward looking views and pointers. Though as a practicing media professional, these topics have left me rather restless than being buoyed about the Indian media and advertising industry, says R Gowthaman.
DLD Munich, WEF Davos, Techcrunch Meet-up New York, TEDx… I have visited all these conferences over the last three months and am now attending GoaFest here in Goa. I must admit, I am impressed. It is the first time I attended a conference in such a relaxed atmosphere by the beach says Patrick Liotard-Vogt.
Mudra’s Pratap Bose gives a round-up of the sessions that rocked on Day 2 of GoaFest, what were the key take-aways from the international speakers, the Media Abbys and the eager wait for the Creative Abbys. Read on…
Wow!! Another GoaFest and another amazing and thrilling night of celebrations and creativity rewards. The whole coming together of the jury, judging it truly professionally inspite of running different agendas and work that all of us are truly proud of. Maxus winning 11 metals is probably an icing on the cake, says Ajit Varghese.
Creative Abby has come a long way from the iconic advertising award it symbolised for several decades. From the traditional print and TV excellence in creativity that it stood for a long time, Creative Abby touches a wide spectrum of fields, making it more than just an advertising award. Many a creative reputation has been built first on the Abby stage before making an impact at Cannes, Clio and One Show, says Ajay Chandwani.
The slowdown of last year saw a shrink in the advertising pie. The question that topped everybody’s mind: is the Indian media under-priced and how do Indian media CPTs compare with those of the other countries? Can the advertising pie grow without the corresponding growth of sales of products and services it promotes? To answer these questions were a set of eminent speakers at the session on ‘Time to Grow - The Advertising Pie (Media)’.
Day 2 of GoaFest 2010 saw the announcement of the winners of the highly anticipated Media Abbys. Maxus scored the maximum with 11 metals comprising one Gold, five Silver and five Bronze Abbys. Lodestar Universal and Mudra Max won three Gold Abbys each, while Mindshare won two Golds.
Day 2 of GoaFest 2010 saw eminent speakers dole out valuable information at the Knowledge & Learning sessions the theme of which was, ‘Survival of the Freshest’. Elaborating on the theme, Prime Focus’s Global Director Micheal Constantine and Grey Worldwide’s Chief Creative Officer Tim Mellor bought under the scanner details of the effectiveness criteria of advertising.
Besides the beach and the bubbly, the knowledge sessions are a big draw at GoaFest. Richard Pinder, COO, Publicis, during his session talked about ‘contagious’ ideas that change brand conversation. He talked about the changing world that we are living in, which is a new world of digital, mobile and viral marketing. Because of this, the way conversations transpire around brands seems to be a totally different landscape.
Following the welcome address by GoaFest Chairman Colvyn Harris, GoaFest 2010 started off with the knowledge sessions, the first of which was presented by Will Collin, Partner, Naked Communications. In keeping with the festival theme of ‘Survival of the Freshest’, Collin gave various points on freshness in communicating to the audiences.
Day 2 of GoaFest 2010 saw the announcement of the winners of the highly anticipated Media Abbys. Maxus scored the maximum with 11 metals comprising one Gold, five Silver and five Bronze Abbys. Lodestar Universal and Mudra Max won three Gold Abbys each, while Mindshare won two Golds.
It was back in 2006 that the journey of Goafest began in the golden sands of Goa. This annual extravaganza which is for-the-industry, by-the-industry and to-the-industry, concentrated on not just recognising good work that can then go on to compete in international advertising festivals, but also on sharing knowledge and learnings along with fun with the advertising fraternity.
No, I am not going to write about the Abbys and how they have been tainted thanks to the leaks. There are three more days ahead to talk about them, even though the fact that they have leaked for three consecutive years indicates a problem that needs some urgent attention. But it’s Day 1 of Goafest and the day when the creme de la creme of Indian ad and medialand assemble to attend the Industry Leadership Conclave.
The capabilities of agencies are often questioned: are they doing enough, and what stops them from doing more? The moot question is whether the agencies are getting distracted from their core function of creativity by venturing into different verticals. The session on ‘Time to grow – Agency capabilities’ on Day 1 of GoaFest 2010 addressed these questions and more…
Much has been said and written about India and China being markets of great importance for global brands and advertising networks, both in terms of size and scope. But where does India exactly stand vis-à-vis China? Tom Doctoroff, CEO, JWT China, gave some interesting insights into the Chines market in his keynote address – ‘Shadow and Light’.
GoaFest 2010 got off to a start on April 8 with the Business Conclave discussed some key issues related to the topic of ‘growth’ and brought to fore the point of relooking the way advertising is being practiced in India in the session titled ‘Time to Grow - Brand and Creativity’.
Presenting the Mixed Media Goafies, a tongue-in-cheek honours list of some of the highlights of the just-concluded GoaFest 2009 from Pradyuman Maheshwari.
An award-result leak before the Festival and disagreements and temper-flaring conversations after the event appear to have become routine with the GoaFest. Much like last year, this year, too, the Creative Abby ended with industry honchos huddled in uncomfortable discussions. This time it was Piyush Pandey, who was irked by the manner in which the awards were given out. He said, “If there was going to be a sense of finale, it cannot be for the ‘Man of the Match’ of the losing team; it has to be about the winning team.”
This is one of the best times in advertising and Sir John Hegarty had 10 reasons for the advertising industry to explain why. In his address at the last day of the GoaFest, Hegarty left the audience with some interesting thoughts to mull on… Read all of what he had to say…
Neeraj Nayar, President, Contagious Communications, examined some new trends in advertising on Day Two at GoaFest 2009. According to him, these were times of convergence and added that advertising needed innovation that involved risk as well.
Day Two saw Starcom MediaVest President and Chief Digital Officer, Sean Finnegan, presenting a strong case of emergence of digital as a potent media platform, especially in the times of slowdown when every marketing rupee is expected to work harder.
For years, the Abby has been the benchmark for creative excellence in Indian advertising. Brand Abby has gone through turbulent times, but has emerged stronger than even before today. We believe these trends will continue with more specialist companies being keen to participate. The Abby is today present across the spectrum of advertising and media and has evolved into a communication award, says <b>Ajay Chandwani. </b>
Jean-Marie Dru, Chairman, TBWA Worldwide, addressed a packed house as the GoaFest 2009 officially opened. He spoke about how advertising today needed to work in real time and why creativity was so important in brand communication.
With JWT India and GroupM dominating the Industry Leadership Conclave, it looks like WPP agencies are here to enjoy GoaFest to the hilt. Officials from all JWT India offices are in South Goa right now – we understand around 250 delegates are here from the agency.
Stage is set for the Media Abby Awards on April 3, 2009. There have been no leaks here, as was in the case of Creative Abbys. Some questions are being raised about the open judging process that was introduced three years ago. exchange4media speaks to some industry leaders on their take on open judging and closed judging.
Go back to basics, said Colvyn Harris, Chairman, GoaFest 2009 at the Industry Leadership Conclave that marks the beginning of the three-day ad festival. Keynote speaker Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra spoke on the challenges that faced the automotive sector and the need for the “frugal mindset”.
The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club Bombay have announced the names of Jury Chairperson for the categories – Film, Film Craft, Design – for the Creative Abby Awards at GoaFest 2009, to be held from April 2-4 at the Cavelossim Beach, Goa.
In the run-up to GoaFest 2009, the Festival executive body – Colvyn Harris, Shashi Sinha, and Suman Srivastava – shares with exchange4media what to expect this year and whether GoaFest is on the right track to become Asia’s most coveted advertising festival.
GoaFest 2009 is all set to kick off with the Industry Leadership Conclave on April 2, 2009. Cavelossim Beach has become the hotbed of activities as it gears up to welcome the delegates. Creative Abby, that has registered an increase in its entries, has seen action in the press even before the Festival begins. Registrations are on full swing too.
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