Goafest 2016 Day 1: Voices from the festival

Goafest 2016 got underway with a bang yesterday. Compared to the previous years, participation has gone up and this year sees the introduction of the Young Abbys as well as the Gender Sensitive Abbys. There are several sessions and interactions to look forward to.

Amid the busy sessions and the anticipation of the Abby Awards, Adgully caught up with a cross-section of the advertising and marketing fraternity to gauge their mood about the Goafest this year, what they are looking forward to, how to engage the younger generation in advertising and raising the stature of the festival.

T Gangadhar, Managing Director, MEC South Asia

What are you looking forward to at Goafest this year?
I am essentially looking forward to arising speakers and, of course, meeting all my old friends – that’s just the two expectations that I have. I think Goafest is the Cannes Festival of Goa. I don’t think any other show in India is as big as the Goafest.

What more needs to be done to draw in the younger lot in advertising to Goafest?
I think there is need to get a more diverse set of international speakers, promote the festival in a manner that people from outside will come and participate as well and get everyone to participate.

Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Aditya Birla Group - Financial Services

What are you looking forward to at Goafest this year?
Nothing changes. Goafest is the melting point of the best of media, marketing and advertising; it’s our clan and it is of the industry by the industry.

What more needs to be done to draw in the younger lot in advertising to Goafest?
See it’s the youth right, you can’t force them. They have to taste success and they will come back for more, so I think it is important for us to have sessions which attract them, any session that attracts them will lead them to stay more and more. So, the first day, they may be outside the convention hall, the next day they will be inside, and offly by the third day they won’t come out!

Kamal Basu, Marketing & PR Head, Volkswagen India

What are you looking forward to at Goafest this year?
My expectation from Goafest is to see some very quality work that has worked for brands. I am assuming it will be transparent and genuine, unlike some of the past years and there will be no controversies as they are not good for the industry. I think in terms of the event and the sessions, they need to integrate a little bit of funk to ensure that the new generation is also kept engaged, because they tend to have very little patience. So we need to make sure that we are catering to them as well because while most of the sessions are worth their value in gold for the newcomers in the industry, maybe a little bit of interesting fun quotient can be brought in to make sure that they are kept engaged.

What do you think has stopped Goafest a tad short of achieving the stature of say, a Cannes Festival?
It’s unfair to compare Goafest with Cannes, which is held at a different location and has a more global arena. Goafest is Indian. Over the last 10-odd years, the festival has reinvent itself; it has moved from being held in Mumbai to Goa, which in itself is a big progress. It is fun and is well-managed and as the years pass by, it will scale up to be bigger.

Subhobroto Chakraborty, Chief Digital Mentor for an upcoming digital academy

What are you looking forward to at Goafest this year?
My expectation from any conference regarding marketing is always taking back lots of knowledge, lots of real case studies where people like us learn from the peers. The reason why so many youngsters are outside the convention hall is because I don’t think there are much of real case studies and learning happening. There are more of panel discussions; when we are in Goa, we don’t expect too much of panel moderators or discussions. We look for what brands are doing for agencies and what the agencies are doing for brands and learning from both sides.

What do you think has stopped Goafest a tad short of achieving the stature of say, a Cannes Festival?
Cannes can only happen when there are lots of international speakers, if they try and bring everyone together it will be a better learning experience. We come here looking for a lot of knowledge and content. However, here at Goafest, there is a part where it’s about awards, once you receive it you are out of it and it helps the winners get more business. It’s the advertising and business part of the festival, where is the learning part?

What more needs to be done to draw in the younger lot in advertising to Goafest?
The younger generation gets bored very fast. Their daily lives are very hectic and there are tremendous work pressures, so they come to Goa to relax. You have to engage them with lots of fundamental things that they don’t know. It is 100 per cent engagement and remarkable content that people look out to. The youth are looking out for futuristic and remarkable content that they want to learn from the leaders in the industry.

Sanjay Tripathy, Senior Executive Vice President - Head Marketing, Product, Analytics, Digital & E-Commerce, HDFC Life

What are you looking forward to at Goafest this year?
I am expecting more of digital this year, a good start is with the Goafest app. I am looking forward to sessions that are focused on digital and how the customers are changing.

What more needs to be done to draw in the younger lot in advertising to Goafest?
I think we need to up the expectation matching based on the topic vis-a-vis what the kids expect. If you look at the discussion today, the Conclave is more about the industry CMOs coming and talking about what they expect from the agency, which is slightly more focused towards the senior management of the agencies rather than the junior management; of course, it is good to know from the client directly. There are at least 20 CMOs talking daily – be it from telecom, finance, or FMCG – about their expectations from the industry. People come to Goafest expecting much more informal sessions. Right now, I think the content is very formal and more suited to the top management.

Suriyanarayana Ramsai

What are you looking forward to at Goafest this year?
More quality work.

What do you think has stopped Goafest a tad short of achieving the stature of say, a Cannes Festival?
I think consistency is the biggest thing, and it has been widely accepted. That is why it is working towards being the biggest advertising event. Today, there is a lot more work that are getting recognised on international platforms.

Sundar Kondur, Vice President - Advertising Sales, The Hindu Group

What are you looking forward to at Goafest this year?
A lot of fun, networking, and meeting all the lost friends, besides we have a lot more celebrities coming in.