Ad gurus return to Goafest

Annual ad fest that begins tomorrow promises to be bigger and better than before

A decade and a half after swearing off the Abbies and later the Goafest, Mullen Lowe Lintas group's chairman, R Balakrishnan, will be part of the annual festival this year.

It commences on Thursday and ends on Saturday. He will moderate a session on Friday, in the capacity of a film-maker along with Bollywood producer-director Karan Johar.

While this will be one highlight of the ad fest, which has seen a 25 per cent jump in entries over last year, touching the 4,400-mark, the organisers have packed in more for the impending edition. In attendance this year will be Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, Ogilvy & Mather India and South Asia, whose agency had opted to stay out of the Creative Abbies over the past few years.

“We haven’t changed our stand. But, this invitation that has been extended to me pertains to my  felicitation  by the organisers for getting the Padmi Shri this year. I have accepted it and feel honoured to be part of an industry show such as Goafest,” Pandey said over telephone to Business Standard.

The troika is complete with adman and lyricist Prasoon Joshi joining the ranks as a juror this year, after staying away following the Ford Figo controversy a few years earlier.

• This will be the eleventh year of the Goafest; first began in 2006
• Entries this year are up 25 per cent, touching 4,400, which is a record high
• Delegates and organisations participating are also up; delegate number is over 1900 and organisations are 270
• International ad guys on the speaker list include Carter Murray, worldwide CEO of FCB and Jean Lin, global CEO of digital agency Isobar
• Two new Abbies will be given out - one for gender sensitivity and the other for young professionals called Young Abby

In a previous conversation with this newspaper, Joshi, now McCann's president for South Asia, had said his agency would send token entries this year to the festival. “But, our delegates will participate and attend the fest in large numbers. We believe genuine efforts have been made by the organisers to overcome the shortcomings and we  want to partner them in this journey,” he’d said.

Into its 11th year, Goafest will see at least 1,900 delegates from nearly 270 organisations — ad and media agencies, broadcasters, publishers and advertisers. Around 250 jurors across categories have been part of the judging process that was monitored by KPMG. “The process remains the same,” says Ramesh Narayan,  chairman, Awards Governing Council, the core unit monitoring the Abbies. “Entries were called, then shortlisted, put up on the Advertising Club website for comments, following which errant  entries were set aside and winners selected from the final list.”

In the wake of persistent controversies dogging Goafest over recent years, the entry process, shortlists and selection of winners have been tightened, with back-checks at every stage of the judging process.

Two new Abbies called the Young Abby and the Special Abby for gender sensitivity will be added to the list of awards this year. Sources in the know say some more creative heads who've given the show a miss over the past few years (from agencies such as BBDO) might come this year.  

"We have always welcomed everybody to the festival because this is an industry event. There is no change in our stance and whoever wishes to come is always welcome,"  says Nakul Chopra, chief executive, Publicis South Asia, who is chairman of the Goafest Organising Committee.