By A Correspondent
Goafest 2012 kicked off with the lighting of the lamp by the industry dignitaries, Mr Arvind Sharma, Chairman Goafest 2012; Mr Nagesh Alai, President, AAAI; Mr Shashi Sinha and Mr Ambi Parmeswaran, ED and CEO, Mumbai Draftfcb Ulka Advertising. Mr Sharma said that he was thrilled as Goafest 2012 over 3,000 participants, including representatives from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Mr Parmeswaran said that he was ecstatic about the event this year as there was a restructuring of knowledge sessions. Mr Sinha observed that with more metals and more categories at the awards than last year, more participants, representatives from foreign countries, exciting prices for the audience, Goafest 2012 is aiming to give participants an experience with qualitative improvement every year. And unlike previous years, presentations by speakers were followed by the Q&A sessions moderated by industry veterans.
The first session, ‘Magical Ideas Come when You Harness the Power of Many People’, commenced with a flash mob from YouTube, taking everyone by surprise and perhaps sending a message that it was one way of using consumers to building your brand.
Mr Lucas Watson, Global Vice President, YouTube spoke about how passionate consumers can help one build brands and how online videos can help even startups spread awareness and the reach needed in a very cost effective and efficient way. “Just get started online, you don’t have to be a big brand, all you have to do is gain trust among your consumers and you will be surprised how passionate people are to participate in the brands they love. The magic of YouTube is available for all to see, as it allows everyone to participate and that too in a cost efficient manner.”
The first session was moderated by Mr N Rajaram of Airtel. When asked about the scope of co-existence between television and online videos, Mr Watson said: “Like many industries, we too are going through a transformation. There are brands which are afraid to disrupt their current mode of functioning and there are brands who want to try new and better ways of reaching out to their consumers. So I believe there will be some co-existence, nevertheless there will be winners and losers as well.”
Gerson da Cunha, stage and film actor, social worker and author dedicated Ad Katha, a book that tracks the history of Indian advertising to the late Bal Mundkur, founder of Ulka. Mr da Cunha gave the audience a glimpse of the Indian advertising right since it started through the present day advertising. He also pointed out that advertising bloomed in India from print media and that in 1991 it even opened doors to the global economy.
Mr Jonathan Mildenhall, Vice President, Global Advertising Strategy and Content Excellence, Coca-Cola spoke on the use of creativity and content and how Coca-Cola moved from creative excellence to content excellence. He also explained that there is a need to encourage consumers to express their stories and how a brand must move to dynamic storytelling. “A brands story must show that it’s committed to make world a better place. There is a need to converse and not just listen to our consumers but to create inspiration and provocation.”
In the session moderated by Sanjay Behl, CEO, Reliance Digital, when asked about a marketer’s role in the future and the consequences of negative conversation on a brand, Mr Mildenhall said: “Brands have to be a lot more transparent, if you inspire good conversation, it manages itself and I believe good eventually wins over evil. Brands, therefore, need to rethink the creative story they are telling their consumers. A 30 second media spot is valuable and it should be a gateway for brands to reach higher grounds.”
Mr Tim Love, CEO, APIMA and Vice Chairman, Omnicom Group spoke about ‘The Magic of Ideas- Our Language Impediment’. He was of the view that innovation is the magic of ideas and that language is a technology. Mr Love also pointed out that as internet penetrates further in India, language communication will be going to new heights.
The session (all of them held at what’s called the ‘Dome’) on Language Impediment was moderated by Kainaz Guzdar of P&G. When asked for his suggestions on how marketers and advertisers can come up with great ideas on language impediments, Mr Love said that they will have to be more cognizant in language and respect the sensitivity of various people. He also said that ideas are best when communication is from one individual to another.
Mr Charles Wright, MD of Wolff Olins shared his insights about how consultancies are equally important to creating and building brands. He spoke about how by combining rigour with magic, one can solve complex business problems and how a Wolff Olins experience of branding may be completely different from an advertising agency’s experience despite working on the same product or brand. “In order to build brands that succeed, it is important that one understands what is important to the customers. We are all living in a world of perception but branding is all about changing the way people behave, and simply making promises is not important but, delivering on those promises is far more important.” He added: “Design, as a language, can help change people from hating a particular brand to making them like the brand and then probably even love that brand.”
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It has been a fruitful start to the event for Sanjay Behl, CEO – Reliance DTH & IPTV at Reliance Communications. Particularly the focus that Goafest has lent towards the medium of the future, digital. MxM India asks Behl for his ideas on the event and the secret to bagging multiple awards.
Nandini Dias, COO, Lodestar UM speaks to MxM India on being the agency to bag the highest number of awards at Media Abby and what the Goafest committee needs to do for the future. Excerpts: