Goafest 2015: Tenth edition of India’s advertising festival gets underway

Goafest 2015 kicks off today with a conclave that features Anand Kripalu, MD and CEO, Diageo; D Shivakumar, chairman and CEO, Pepsico India; R Chandrasekar, head of communication and eCommerce, Nestle South Asia Region, and Sanjeeb Chaudhuri, global chief marketing officer and regional head, South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank.

This will be followed by the Media and Publisher Abby presentations in the evening. The awards follow the same format as last year. The Radio Abbys this year is sponsored by Radio Mirchi, which hosted its own annual Mirchi Kaan Awards in Mumbai until now.

Goafest is not without its share of negative press, thanks to several industry leaders giving it a miss. But the event is not without its share of senior adlanders either. ‘Meeting the industry’ is the agenda for several delegates Campaign India spoke with.

Manish Bhatt, founder and director, Scarecrow Communications, an attendee of the festival since its inception, is here for the Abbys though like many others. He said, “The biggest reason for me attending the festival would be the Abbys itself, were we have around 35 shortlists. I believe it is the most important and significant national award. This is also one of the few occasions the industry gets to meet. Events like this are also important for the 70-member team at Scarecrow.  Finally, every year the organisers do something new and different, so I’m looking forward to that surprise element too.”

Mitrajit Bhattacharya, president and publisher, Chitralekha Group, has attended the festival for the past eight years. He says, “I love both Goa and the fest. I quite like the concept of Goafest. I’m looking forward to listen to some thought provoking talk by some good speakers, celebrate Abbys with the winners, meet industry peers and friends to exchange ideas (it is easier to meet them here than in Mumbai or Delhi) and finally just enjoy the after hours with some nice music and single malt!”

Vikram Gaikwad, founder, Underdog, returns to the festival after a two-year hiatus. His reason for being at the festival is seeing the best of advertising ‘at one shot’. He says, “It’s an annual short-handle event to watch the best of advertising work at one shot. Even all that work we may have missed all year long. So why miss out? I’m looking forward to see some great work winning this year, which eventually wins big in all international award shows. And yes not to forget that I am here to have a great time with my team, my friends and some great beer.”