The Goafest Organizing Committee has released the first list of speakers for Goafest 2014 Knowledge Seminars. Unlike in the previous years where the focus was principally on international speakers, this year the Knowledge Seminars will have a good mix of international speakers, inspirational speakers, spiritual speakers and speakers on innovative aspects.
The outcome is the result of a survey among the last three years’ Goafest delegates. “Based on the findings of this survey, we have put together a very special list of speakers for Goafest delegates to listen to and interact with,” said Arvind Sharma, President of Advertising Agencies Association of India.
For the Knowledge Seminars, the initial set of names include Preethi Mariappan- Executive Creative Director at Razorfish, Germany; Melanie Varley- Chief Strategy Officer, Global at MEC; Norm Johnson- Chief Digital Officer at Mindshare; Alicia Souza- illustration designer/artist/ e-commerce entrepreneur; Shravan Kumaran and Sanjay Kumaran, the youngest app developers in India and a group known as AIB(All India Bakchod), Devdutt Pattanaik, Mythologist, Author, Leadership, DK Hema & Hema Hari, Founders, BharathGyan.
Srinivasan Swamy
“We are delighted that we have been able to get some very inspiring speakers on a cross section of subjects which delegates are normally not exposed to,” said Goafest Committee Chairman, Srinivasan Swamy.
The Awards Governing Council of Goafest 2014 has extended the dates for its entries for Goafest Abbys 2014. The last date for submission of entries for Media Abbys is 15th April, 2014 before 5pm, and for Creative & Broadcaster & Publisher Abbys the deadline is 17th April, 2014 before 5pm.The entry forms can be downloaded from www.theadvertisingclub.net.
Goafest 2014 will be held from May 29th to 31st at The Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, North Goa.
Regular Award Entry Fee is Rs.6,500/- + 12.36% Service Tax. For Integrated campaigns the entry fee is Rs.9,000/- + ST 12.36%. For entries from other countries in the SAARC region (Single & Integrated) it is USD 20 + ST 12.36% (USD 22.47).
My first reaction on hearing that Goafest has introduced a public relations (PR) Abby was that it was an overdue, but welcome development. PR has never been mentioned in the same breath as advertising despite rising evidence from around the globe that unidirectional communication is in decline. Meaningful engagement on multiple platforms is the way ahead, and it’s the PR industry that has been providing it.
The Abby is a logical step in the evolution of Goafest. The event needs to go from being advertising-dominated to a well-rounded event that represents every discipline of marketing communications. This will raise not just the interest in it but, more importantly, its credibility.
The fact is the Indian PR industry needs such a high-profile platform. While we have regional and global PR awards, we don’t have any comparable ones in India. Goafest is India’s biggest communications event and the PR industry needs to make a mark there.
I have one fear, though. In similar events elsewhere, we have seen ad agencies entering for the PR awards – and winning. Strange as it may sound, it’s rare for a PR award to go to a PR agency!
If that happens at Goafest, too, then the purpose of the awards would be defeated and the PR industry would have, in fact, suffered a setback. Of course, the onus is squarely on PR agencies to make sure this doesn’t happen. We need to deliver strategic value and then aggressively market our successes.
With the dates for the three-day advertising festival being drawn up, the Awards Governing Council of Goafest 2014 has announced its “call for entries” for Goafest Abbys 2014. The entry forms can be downloaded from www.theadvertisingclub.net. The last date for submission of entries is Friday, April 11, 2014.
The regular award entry fee is Rs.6,500/- + 12.36% service tax. For Integrated campaigns the entry fee is Rs.9,000/- + ST 12.36%. For entries from other countries in the SAARC region (Single & Integrated) the charge is USD 20 + ST 12.36% (USD 22.47)
The dates for the various award shows are as follows: Publisher and Media Abbys on May 29;Â Design, Direct, Promo-Activation, PR, Outdoor, Print Craft, Branded Content and Broadcaster Abbys on May 30; and Interactive Digital, Radio, Print, TV, Integrated Abbys on May 31, 2014.
As announced earlier, this year will see some new categories:Â Promo-Activation, PR, Broadcaster and Publisher Abbys. Also, the Grand Prix can be awarded for Film, Print, Radio, Outdoor, Design, Interactive Digital, Direct, Media and Integrated.
L to R: Arvind Sharma, Srinivasan Swamy and Pratap Bose
Okay, so the Goafest 2014 is being held in the same hotel where a certain editor alleged raped a junior colleague in November last year.
We don’t know whether CC TV cameras have been installed in the elevators, but the hotel may well be mulling extra security and ‘watch’ men or women around the expansive land of what’s an excellent property.
Uff, let’s not scare the Hyatt folks. The advertising fraternity comprises sober, decent people. And even if they aren’t all sober after a few drinks, they won’t do what Mr T is supposed to have done.
Jokes apart, Goafest 2014 will be held from May 29 to 31 at the Grand Hyatt hotel at Bambolim in North Goa.
“This year we aim to dial up the excitement by expanding the festival”,said Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman, Goafest 2014. “While strengthening the initiatives undertaken in the previous years, Goafest 2014 will be a three-day event with the Knowledge Seminars being held on all three days. The Advertising Conclave, which was ‘Only By Invitation’ so far and was held on the day before Goafest will now be on Day Two and will be open to all delegates. The Conclave aims to create more engagement between advertisers, agencies and the rest of the media industry. We will continue to have leading advertisers talk on issues that have a strong bearing on the industry. And as for the three days at Goafest, none of the fun elements will be missing for which Goafest is known! It will only get enhanced.”
The rain dance did you mean, Sir?
With the fest now turning into a three-day event, there will be two options of delegate passes. A two-day delegate pass priced at Rs 14,000 will allow the delegates to attend any two consecutive days of their choice. A three-day pass priced at Rs 18,000 will allow delegates to attend the festival for all three days. Under-30 delegates will continue to enjoy a special discount of 50% on these rates.
Pratap Bose, President of The Advertising Club and Chairman of The Awards Governing Council (AGC) said, “The Abbys will be augmented with new categories this year. We will include Promo-Activation and PR. The Branded Content category,which was added last year,will be expanded. And most excitingly, we are adding Broadcaster and Publisher Abbys at Goafest. These will recognize outstanding advertising and communication ideas for promoting broadcast and print properties. Broadcaster and publishers will be entitled to send in entries for these categories.” Mr Bose shed more light on this by stating that, “These changes are being made with the aim of honoring the great work that is being done by all media professionals.”
Continuing with the changes that were inducted in 2012 – there will be a Grand Prix for Film, Print, Radio, Outdoor, Design, Interactive Digital, Direct, Media and Integrated.
Award shows for various verticals will be held on the following evenings:
May 29: Publisher Abbys. Media Abbys
May 30: Design Abbys. Direct Abbys. Promo-Activation Abbys. PR Abbys. Outdoor Abbys. Print Craft Abbys. Branded Content Abbys. Broadcaster Abbys.
May 31: Interactive Digital Abbys. Radio Abbys. Print Abbys. TV Abbys. Integrated Abbys
There will also be significant changes in the judging process. There will be a window of a clear 10 days before the final judging round. During this window, shortlisted entries will be available for the entire industry to review. However, the Abbys once awarded will stay awarded. So no superjury tamasha like last year. Participation in the Abbys will continue to be open to all who want to participate. Membership of the AAAI or The Advertising Club is not required. The award entry fee will be Rs 6500 per entry for general entries and Rs 9500 for integrated entries.
Marketing Wizards, the initiative under which young client delegates can avail of the special under 30 delegate fees as well free accommodation will continue this year.So will the special ‘Rest of South Asia’ awards.
“Goafest is recognized as a platform for celebration of communication excellence and as a platform for exchange of ideas across the advertising, marketing and media fraternity,” said Arvind Sharma, founding Chairman of Goafest and current President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). He added, “Last year’s Conclave where leading advertisers shared their candid points of view with the industry was seen as a super success. This year’s changes in the festival format – including a client-led Conclave open to all and introduction of Broadcaster and Publisher Abbys – make it a true industry-wide platform.”
We are sure the beer and booze will also be flowing in enough measure.
We all know of the mess that Goafest, the annual adfest of India’s advertising and marketing services industry, has been in. The Advertising Agencies Association of India delayed the announcement of the date for reasons best known to it. And there were reservations from many of the top ad agencies on their participation in the Creative Abby.
Already the reputation of Goafest had taken a beating last year with charges of plagiarism and scam advertising impacting the credibility of what’s decidedly the mainstay of the event: the Creative Abby. “Ogilvy not participating in the Abby is like Brazil pulling out from the World Cup Soccer or China from the Olympics,” said one organiser and ad honcho on anonymity.
The last straw in the mess on Goafest was the stepping aside of Nakul Chopra as chairman of the Goafest Organising Committee earlier this week. The many delays in the dates meant that Mr Chopra would have to stay back from work for too long, and that’s something he could ill-afford.
But the appointment of Srinivasan Swamy, better known in the business as Sundar Swamy, is said to be a masterstroke. Said the organiser-cum-honcho we spoke to earlier: “There are few people in the business who you can never say no to. Sundar is one of them.”
A member of the India chapter of International Association of Advertisers cites Mr Swamy’s can-do attitude and a gentle mix of delegation-and-monitoring as the reason why IAA has superactive in the last two years. “There was no brief for the IAA to do what he has done. But Sundar achieved what Ad Club, AAAI and several other clubs and associations ought to be doing.”
Yet, said the honcho, it’s interesting that Mr Swamy has taken on the responsibility when it’s indeed a tall order given that the odds stacked against it.
Mr Swamy’s statement that the 2014 edition will be bigger and brighter may be looked at by many with a “let’s wait and watch”, but the balls have started rolling. The hotel has been tentatively booked, the dates are nearly sealed, and by shifting the proceedings indoors, there is hope that the heat generated around is more by the proceedings than the weather.
There’s reason to cheer for India’s adfrat. Goafest 2014 has not been put off, and the Creative and Media Abby will be held as part of the fest. RK Swamy Hansa group Chairman and Managing Director Srinivasan K Swamy, better known as Sundar Swamy, is the new Chairman of the Organising Committee.
Confirming the news to MxMIndia, Mr Swamy said that the Goafest this year will be bigger and brighter than ever before. We have expanded the awards and will have three evenings of awards. “The entire programme will be indoors so there is no reason to despair about the heat,” he added.
Mr Swamy, who is also President, IAA India Chapter & VP-Development, IAA Asia Pacific. In fact, the IAA has had a hyperactive two years, since Mr Swamy took over.
He has been associated with Goafest for some years as incharge of the industry conclave. According to information we have received, the dates will in all probability be around the last week of May and the event will be held indoors as against the beaches of Goa.
As reported by MxMIndia yesterday (Feb 12), Nakul Chopra had declined to be Chairman of the Goafest Organising Committee. While some may have felt that it was a setback, according to a senior agency captain, the appointment of Mr Swamy is sure to energise Goafest 2014.
The Goafest Organising Committee appears to have suffered another blow with the confirmation of the news that Chairman of the Organizing Committee Nakul Chopra has stepped aside from the position earlier this week.
Confirming the news to MxMIndia, Mr Chopra said the festival is still sometime away and his primary work of leading Publicis Worldwide in the region is taking a fair amount of time, it was tough for him to reconcile both.
Although Mr Chopra was unwilling to comment on the dates, as per information received by MxMIndia, it’s likely to that Goafest dates may get pushed to end-May to avoid a clash with the elections. “They should have ideally happened in the first week of April, but since they didn’t, the only option is to have it at the end of May. The next window is in October, when people get busy with the festival activity.”
At the time of writing it was still not known who will replace Mr Chopra, though there are naysayers that his decision is indicative of the growing disinterest in Goafest. “The total silence will only benefit the alternative D&AD-Kyoorius initiative.”
It’s the second week of February and no date has been announced for the 2014 edition Goafest , pointing to issues that the committee is facing on the dates. When MxMIndia called AAAI President Arvind Sharma late last month, he said he would announce them last week.
When MxMIndia asked an officebearer about the date, he replied in the same vein: The dates will be announced soon.
The reason for the delay is that the organizers want to avoid a clash with the general elections. But that an agency told us is not tenable as a reason because this is not the first time the elections have clashed with Goafest. “Do it in the last week of March or first week of April, and there will be no clash,” he said. “The question is do we have enough quality participants at the Creative Abby. And do we have enough sponsors coming in for the festival and the Industry Conclave.”
What MxMIndia has been told is that despite the absence of some of the top agencies, the event will be held. One of the dates mooted is April 28, but that too could clash with the polls, is the worry.
As has been reported, the London-based international not-for-profit D&AD has announced its intent to bring its awards with Kyoorius, a not-for-profit body which would conduct an annual design fest in Goa. TheKyoorius Awards are scheduled to be held around June 2014 in Mumbai, and the entries will be accepted with effect from March 20.
Even as the Advertising Club, the Advertising Agencies Association of India and the Goafest committee finalise the dates of Goafest 2014, there’s no confirmation on whether Ogilvy & Mather will participate in this year’s Creative Abby.
At its inhouse Envies awards, National Creative Director Abhijit ‘Kinu’ Avasthi , had told MxMIndia: “There are certain changes that we are looking for at the Abbys and till the time they do not happen, we definitely would not be thinking about it.” And should the changes happen? “We will think about it then.”
So when we called Mr Avasthi for his reactions of the D&AD-backed Kyoorius Advertising Awards yesterday and asked him on the Abby participation, he said matter-of-factly: “No, not as of now. However, if they accept our conditions and change their stand, we may consider.”
Last year, while confirming the news on not participating in the Abby, Mr Avasthi had told us: “We felt that they were not energizing our people as they used to earlier.”
And when asked if Ogilvy will participate at the Kyoorius Awards, Mr Avasthi said: “We’ll want to hear a little more. I don’t know much about it.”
An industry and Abby observer told us that by deciding to hold the awards in Mumbai and having very few judges, the Kyoorius hosts meet two of the main demands of Ogilvy. In addition, Mr Avasthi & Co are said to be peeved about too many unimportant categories and a skew towards domains where there is not much creative work done through the year.
CenturyPly has undergone a brand restructuring exercise and also unveiled a new brand philosophy. The company has unveiled a new campaign with the underlying theme ‘Idea: Khushiyon Ka Rangmanch’.
CenturyPly is not just into creating commodities, but is in the business of creating spaces and home solutions through its products – plywood, laminates and veneers – surfaces which are witness to everyday moments of joy and happiness. The theme revolves around the premise that it’s these surfaces that bring people together; a stage where life’s happy moments play out.
Mr Amit Gope – Head, Marketing, CenturyPly said, “We found this concept to be extremely strong, unique and with a potential to remain relevant for a long time. More than that, it was something that was meeting our objectives in the best possible manner.”
Sonal Dabral
Sonal Dabral – Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group affirmed, “Devoid of any sharp ideas, the plywood advertising landscape has been fuzzy to say the least. We decided it was time for a respected brand like CenturyPly to speak like a leader and elevate the category to the next level. Nana Patekar’s brilliance needs no mention. We were fortunate that he agreed to be a part of this project. I’m certain the audience will love him as the voice of our conscience provoking us to take a fresh look at our furniture we take for granted every day.”
Rajiv Sabnis
Rajiv Sabnis – President, DDB Mudra West said, “Khusiyon ka Rangmanch is an idea that is a take on life, from the point-of-view of the furniture. If all inanimate objects had a life of their own, and could see the world around them, then they would see themselves at the centre of a family life. Then furniture could see the joys, the bonding, the celebration, the success, the romance, the love, the gossip and many other emotions that a family goes through in the course of their life together. Furniture is a mute spectator today, but if it had emotions, it would believe that the family comes together around the various pieces of furniture which make a home. Nana Patekar embodies the conscience of the furniture that provides a platform for emotions to play out. This campaign is a tribute to furniture, hence Century Ply, and the centre stage role it plays in bringing and keeping families together.”
The campaign is a multimedia campaign across the mediums of TV, print, outdoor, digital and on ground. It goes on air this week.
Videocon has shifted a part of its advertising account to Rediffusion Y&R as it tries to reposition its telecom, mobile handset and flat panel television business. The account size is pegged at upwards of Rs 150 crore. The mobile handset business was handled by McCann World-Group’s second agency TAG until three months ago. The rest of the account moved to Rediffusion Y&R last week.
Videocon has also appointed a small independent agency SHO to handle its home appliances business, which had been awarded to Mindset, a subsidiary of JWT last year. Videocon’s direct-to-home (DTH) business D2H will continue to be managed by Lowe Lintas. Confirming the development, Sunil Tandon, group chief marketing officer, Videocon, said that multiple agencies pitched for the account.
“We expected the agency to understand our products, market and consumer behaviour, so that we reach out to the right set of audience with relevant message. We observed team Rediffusion Y&R understood these requirements and the same was reflected in their proposal,” he said. Amitava Sinha, chief operating officer, Rediffusion Y&R said: “We have been pursuing and engaging with Videocon for a really long time and I believe our previous stint with LG helped us win the business. These are categories that are fast evolving and consequently the communication challenges will demand clutter breaking and innovative thinking.”
A mail sent to JWT received no response until the time of going to press, but Sanjay Nayak, president, McCann WorldGroup, who also heads TAG, acknowledged that they parted ways with Videocon “some time ago.” Videocon’s telecom business was not a part of this process, however.
The company has telecom licences in six circles. Though Videocon does not operate in any of the circles, it plans to launch 4G services by the end of 2014. Videocon’s pan-India telecom licenses were cancelled in February 2012, following which the company bid for seven circles during the auction in November 2012.The company is expected to launch a range of mobile handsets in the coming months, and a new campaign will be launched around Diwali said a source at the agency.
