Goafest 2023, Day 3 Sees Creativity In A Renewed Light
The third day of the Goafest kickstarted with a lovely performance of Papon, an Indian Playback Singer, assured the crowd was mesmerised by his voice and persona. The crowd swayed from beginning to end as his tunes, lyrics, harmony, and glorious voice captivated them.
Fest commenced the final day with a Knowledge Seminar by Anymind, titled, Seven Principles For The Future Of Creativity led by Nick Law, Global Creative Chairperson - Accenture Song. This session deep-dived into the necessity of establishing and embodying principles as a brand; to this end, Nick stated, “Every company needs to have consistent principles and dynamic practices. Sometimes, our industry sometimes forgets that it needs to be dynamic.”
Nick has crafted a compelling set of principles that ignite a fresh perspective on the future of creativity. His principles act as a guiding light, illuminating the path forward for artists, designers, marketers, and anyone seeking to harness the power of creative potential. Law offered profound insights and a deep understanding of the ever-changing landscape.
The seven principles for the future of creativity, guided by Nick Law, emphasize the importance of embracing creativity, technology, and its collaboration to drive innovation, create meaningful experiences, and deliver effective creative solutions in the evolving digital landscape, ultimately transforming the way brands connect with audiences and shape the future of advertising.
The first half of Day 3 also witnessed two masterclasses; the first one laid emphasis on storytelling, which was presented by Bharat Avalani, the visionary founder and CEO of Connecting the Dots Marketing Consultancy. With the AFAA's ‘Communicators as Storytellers’ as its focus, the session discussed the art of becoming a business storyteller and the profound role that stories play in shaping brand experiences. As compared to brands, people are naturally interested in people, which is why the masterclass focused on consumer insights, strategy, and brand communication through storytelling.
The second masterclass, Silverpush — Dynamic Video Optimisation: Unlocking the Full Potential of Video Advertising by Rahul Joshi, explored Dynamic Video Optimisation, unveiling the immense potential of video advertising and sharing strategies to optimize and leverage its impact for maximum results. A major focus of Rahul's was to build sustainable technology to make marketers excited about videos and drive conversions from them. In addition, the masterclass discussed how advertisers can boost conversions through videos and create tremendous impact through DVO and storytelling. The session ended with Rahul demonstrating how DVO helps advertisers present their products based on region, language, or user behaviour based on Silverpush's Himalaya face wash use case.
Later, another session titled, Understanding Young India by MTV conducted by Utsav Chaudhari — Head Marketing, YME, Viacom18. This discourse examined the vibrant and dynamic minds of the youth, unravelling their aspirations, challenges, and unique perspectives, backed by data! Utsav mentioned, “Passion, interest, and hobbies are on the rise amongst Young India as they are into monetisation. They do not want to cultivate hobbies that generate monies.”
Utsav also touched upon several significant aspects that Young India consumes content, online appearances, their outlook on relationships, career outlook, religion, family, and more. Again, all these facets and insights were supported by data.
As the future of our society, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the hopes, dreams, and values that drive this generation. The session embraced fresh insights, challenged preconceived notions, and embark on a journey of understanding and collaborating with the incredible force that is Young India.
Thereafter, Sports18 presented a Knowledge Seminar called Media Agencies Panel – Breaking the Old Mould moderated by Sam Balsara — Chairman, Madison World with panellists including Aditi Mishra, CEO- Lodestar UM, Amin Lakhani, CEO, South Asia, Mindshare, Mohit Joshi, CEO-Havas Media Group India, and Naveen Khemka-CEO South Asia – Essence Mediacom. In a world driven by constant change, it is imperative to break free from the constraints of tradition and explore new possibilities.
In this panel discussion, the importance of holding agencies accountable for outcomes, not for saving clients' money, was highlighted. Since agencies are not in control of all aspects of the marketing mix, especially distribution, clients often need to view agencies in that light.
News18 Network further presented yet another Knowledge Seminar called IAA — Voice Of Change on Gender Bias moderated by Megha Tata — CEO, Cosmos Maya India Pvt Ltd, with panellists that included Anupriya Acharya — CEO, Publicis Groupe, South Asia, Kailashnath Adhikari — Business Head, Sri Adhikari Brothers Network, Lata Venkatesh — Executive Editor, CNBC TV 18, and Tarun Katial — Founder & CEO, Coto. In a world where gender equality remains an ongoing battle, this gathering of diverse minds held the key to fostering lasting change. Through engaging discussions and thought-provoking insights, the panel delved deep into the pervasive issue of gender bias and its multifaceted impact on our societies.
Megha began this session with a presentation of an interesting study about the realities of women's representation in advertising. Anupriya mentioned, “We are clearly not doing enough, we have progressed over the last 20 years, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. Awareness and education are key.”
Tarun also added, “Unfortunately, the stereotyping of women has been very harsh.” He went on to give several examples, national and international, where this case has been witnessed.
The last Knowledge Seminar of Goafest 2023 was presented by Rajasthan Patrika. Future of Indian Cinema: Exploring Artistic Freedom and Challenging Conventions saw Tabu, Actress Extraordinaire & Rana Daggubati — Indian Actor & Producer in conversation with Rajeev Masand — Former Critic, COO of Dharma Cornerstone Agency speak about the path charted for Indian Cinema. This session served as a platform to explore the ever-evolving landscape of Indian cinema, where the boundaries of creativity are pushed because of technology today, and conventional norms are challenged.
Tabu stated, “The challenge for any creative field is to create something they haven’t seen and/or experienced before. Likewise for me, I tap into that part of my belief.” Tabu and Rana also discussed components of cinema, including technology, distribution, infrastructure, language, global representation, future and more. The two panellists shared their learnings and experiences with the crowd, which also gave us an insider's view.
Lastly, the conversation focused on the transformative power of artistic freedom with the force of technology today, hoping to build a cinematic realm that dares to defy expectations and captivate hearts, as always!
Parallely, masterclasses for the latter half of the day had interesting takeaways, too! In Unleashing the Power of Flipkart’s Shopper Intelligence, Sudarshan Sharma — Senior Director, Monetization & Product Marketing, Flipkart, covered how advertisers can use Flipkart Ads to drive marketing objectives on social media and the open internet based on shoppers’ behaviour. He shared insights on helping brands to drive the marketing funnel beside the shopping experiences that Flipkart users go through. He added that partners and how to use Flipkart’s audience intelligence to benefit the brand with conversions.
The masterclasses finale was Data, Creative, Production & Technology are at the core of everything we produce in branded content today. In the session, production platform Prodigious India EVP & Head Varun Shah and Vikram Pandey spoke about how combining data, creativity, and production can give creators the multiplier effect to manifest incredible results. In the exhilarating masterclass, they took the audience through creating Airtel 5G’s ad, which recreated the momentous 1983 Cricket World Cup and Kapil Dev’s score of 175 runs from scratch, using 1,000+ data points, VFX and human data. Varun Shah said, “It’s not Human vs AI but Human X AI. If we use Artificial Intelligence the way it’s meant to be used, brands will see the multiplier effect. Look at AI as a tool to enable you to do cool stuff.”
Prasanth Kumar, the President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India and CEO of GroupM South Asia, in his address at the end of Goafest 2023, to everyone said, "I am very grateful to the array of speakers, moderators, and panellists who have made this year nothing less than an extravagant exchange of experiences, information and insights. We return with our hearts full of gratitude and spirit full of creativity. Each session brought a unique perspective and added immense value to the table. Each session was a treasure trove of wisdom, creativity, innovation, and inspiration. The expertise and passion of each speaker shone through as they shared their experiences, expertise, and industry trends. I was captivated by the depth of knowledge and the thought-provoking discussions that unfolded during the festival. The sheer ability to convey complex ideas in a relatable and engaging manner was truly remarkable! I would also like to extend my gratitude to all the sponsors, who have been generously supportive and helpful."
Speaking about the Abby One Show Awards 2023, Partha Sinha, President of the Times of India Group and President of The Advertising Club, said, Goafest has yet again proven to be an extravaganza that brings together the entire media and creative fraternity together. From the staggering number of entries to the jury, to the wins, and more, every aspect of this fest has been nothing short of astounding. We're setting international standards and pushing boundaries with ABBY One Show; you all have witnessed it! We take immense pride in calling ourselves the voice of the industry, the representatives of this industry and this year's fest is a testimonial in itself. The atmosphere was buzzing with creativity and excellence, and it was truly inspiring to see so many talented individuals coming together and manifesting all that we have witnessed this year."
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