Mumbai : Leading ad agencies may continue to stay away from the Goafest, considered a marquee annual event in India’s advertising calendar, going by confirmations so far, for an event that starts on 9th April. A lot of them had given it a wide berth last year, too.
Sources say that ad agencies such as DDB Mudra and BBDO are yet to confirm their participation, notably, in the Creative Abbys, the most sought-after awards at the festival. They join the ranks of O&M, McCann, Grey and Leo Burnett, which are yet to confirm participation, as well.
Text messages sent to Sonal Dabral, chairman and chief creative officer, DDB Mudra Group and Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative Officer, BBDO India, went unanswered.
Sources, however, say that BBDO may give an indication of its status soon as the last date for entries for the Creative Abbys, which is on 14th March, nears. The Abby ad awards are often billed as the Indian ad industry’s ‘Oscars’. Ajay Chandwani, committee member, Goafest, says his team is in talks with top agencies to come on board.
Last year, O&M, McCann, Creativeland Asia, Leo Burnett, BBDO and Grey gave the show a miss.
The fest organisers held a creative directors’ meeting, in December, 2014, intended to help understand possible gaps and what the creative community wanted to suggest. It comprised representatives from small and independent creative shops and bigger agencies like Taproot and Scarecrow. People from O&M were said to have made it to the meeting, as well.
Goafest has become more media-agency led in terms of fanfare and participation, smarting from the fiasco a few years ago when creative agencies protested, directly and indirectly, the lack of a transparent judging process.
Agencies such as McCann did not participate at the creative directors’ meeting this year. Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann World Group, Asia-Pacific and chief executive officer of McCann World Group India, said he was not against talking to the organisers of the Goafest, though.
A similar point was reiterated by Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, South Asia: “We never boycotted Goafest. We simply said there were certain issues with the awards and if these were resolved, we would be happy to be part of the show. The point is that our issues have to be resolved. If they (organisers) wish to have a meeting with me and discuss, I am open to it”.
Like last year, the Goafest, will continue to be a three-day festival instead of a two-day affair with award shows held every night. Last year, Goafest introduced Abbys for promo activation and public relations, and added the broadcast and publishing segments in the branded-content category. This was in addition to the Media and Creative Abbys. Chopra says all these aspects will continue, apart from a stringent judging and audit process.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Goafest will introduce new elements to increase participation of a younger crowd. “We are organising Youth Labs, which is an interactive learning session targeting young people. About 20-25 people will be selected for this. And, we will have two sessions – one targeting media people and one for creative personnel,” Nakul Chopra, chairman, Goafest 2015, says.
Last year, Goafest had received nearly 2,300 entries across 275 organisations, which the organising committee hopes to achieve this year, as well.
However, unlike last year, the organising committee has overhauled speaker sessions, with bigger and better names making it to the festival such as Ted Lim, chief creative officer, Dentsu-Aegis Network, Asia-Pacific, Alan Moseley, president and creative officer, 180, Amsterdam, Neil Stewart, head of agency, APAC Region, Facebook and Guy Abrahams, worldwide strategic marketing officer, ZenithOptimedia. Some more names are expected to get confirmed.
The revamp also comes as competition from rival Kyoorius D&AD Awards grows. The buzz is that the latter will launch a three-day festival in May in Mumbai, packed with knowledge sessions and an award show for advertising and digital.
