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| Unconventional on second day |
| Sapna Agarwal & Suvi Dogra / Goa Apr 04, 2009, 01:20 IST |
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During the inauguration ceremony, speakers addressed the media while sitting on the steps of the dais, and organisers speeding in on water scooters and dancing with models dressed in bikinis and sarongs — almost like a scene from a James Bond flick. There were all and much more on day two of the Goa Adfest.
The agenda was to create a learning environment while having fun, reasoned Mudra Group Chairman Madhukar Kamath.
Sharing the vision for the fest during the day, Colvyn Harris, Chairman GoaFest 2009 and JWT India CEO, said: “GoaFest 2009 has been a fabulous story for India and in the next five years we will create a property, which equals Cannes.”
The day was ruled by global speakers — Jean Marie Dru, global chairman, TBWA, Neeraj Nayar, president, Contagious Communications, and Sean Finnegan, chief digital officer, Starcom Mediavest.
The highlight, however, will be the awards. This year will see awards in nine verticals — Print, Radio, Integrated, Direct, Design, Interactive & Digital, Craft, Out of Home and Film. The Media Abby awards were to be announced later today, followed by the Creative Abby awards to be announced on Saturday evening.
The session started to a full house, with close to 600 people attending. But, three hours into the seminar and down to the third speaker, there were less than a third of the people attending the knowledge and learning. It was more fun to be outside to see the setting sun, indulge in water sports and guzzle beer or sip on cocktails.
While speaking on disruption in a disrupted world, Dru said big ideas win, good ads don’t. Through a presentation of international ads for brands such as Adidas, Pepsi, Pedigree and Danone, he said: “The impossibility has never existed in our brands history and will never in our company.”
Nayar’s session highlighted that the future is about digital and it is the time to take risks. And that brands need to adopt the two track approach to grow. Finnegan, in his session, too furthered the idea of digital media and its importance in future ad strategies. With internet penetration in India having grown 700 per cent since the year 2000, digital is no longer the new medium. It is growing beyond, he said. He suggested that brands achieve balance in three steps — listen to the consumer, respond to their needs and engage (engage in a conversation to make them buy their products).
On collaboration and taking risks, he said one needs to make openness a new way of life, with new kinds of relationships with competitors. “For instance, if you have a business competitor, find ways to co-exist. This is required to beat the recession, as the future is about collaboration and taking risks. It also helps in putting collective minds together to shape the direction to come,” he said.
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