Goafest 2024 Launches With Higher Entries & Introduction Of Three New Award Categories

The 17th edition of Goafest 2024, hosted by The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club (TAC), kickstarted on Wednesday with an electrifying performance by singer Sukhwinder Singh. Harit Nagpal, Managing Director & CEO of Tata Play; Sanjiv Mehta, Executive Chairman of L Catterton India; film director Tahira Kashyap, 12th Fail actors Vikrant Massey and Medha Shankar were among the speakers on Day One of the event.

The evening concluded with Abby Awards, for which The Advertising Club has partnered with One Show for the third consecutive year. There were 3506 entries this year from 273 companies, higher than last year's 3301.

On the sidelines of the event, Prasanth Kumar, President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and CEO of GroupM South Asia, spoke about how new ideas are being incorporated into the fest each year to make it a better learning opportunity for all delegates. “We have seen an interesting trend in participation this year with people from allied industries like technology and production also coming in other than the agencies. We also have masterclasses on various topics that will be useful for participants. Perhaps, the scale of technological lessons can be included in these masterclasses from next year,” he said. 

Rana Barua, President of The Advertising Club and Group CEO of Havas India, South East and North Asia, mentioned that this year has seen a record number of awards in terms of the categories. He pointed out how the presence of technology in advertising prompted them to introduce three new age categories – Digital, Mobile, and Technology- which have collectively garnered 626 entries from 75 companies. “In fact, the number of participating agencies was so high that we had to restrict entries after a point. The entries were not only from returning agencies whose participation is seen every year but also some new ones, especially because of the introduction of several new award categories,” he added.

As a reflection of the global trend, the subcategory of Best Use of AI sub-category has also been introduced in both technology and digital verticals, informed Dheeraj Sinha, Group CEO - India and South Asia, FCB and Co-chair Awards.

Commenting on other new categories, he said, “Copywriting for web and digital craft has been added in Still Digital and Digital Verticals. With the growth in Health and Wellness communication, a new vertical called Health has been added this year with sub-categories like OTC Oral Medicines, OTC Products, Nutraceuticals among others. A new specialist agency award being introduced is Health Specialist of the Year for the best performance by a company in this vertical.”

Besides the verticals, the committee also instituted the Red Abby for sustainable development and meaningful practices to cover climate action, and responsible consumption as well as the Green Abby which covers ecological conservation and prevention of environmental destruction.

Jaideep Gandhi, Chairperson of the Goafest Organising Committee, said, "We aim to keep this festival relevant, as we've successfully done in the past two years, especially in the post-pandemic era. Each year, we strive to introduce new elements, constantly raising the bar."

The three-day exravaganza will end on May 31.