Goafest absentees make Melt a serious challenger

Many are present at the new fest that already has 1,400 delegates registered

A room full of young advertising and marketing professionals is in rapt attention as Simon Gosling, global CEO of London-headquartered production house, Happy Finish, explains the finer points of virtual and augmented reality.

He demonstrates, with charts and examples, the difference between the two and how his firm, which has studios in Mumbai, Shanghai, London and Portland, has used both to help marketers communicate their brand message.

A while later, Satya Raghavan, head of content operations, Youtube India, has the task of explaining to his audience of young professionals, how future citizens would entertain themselves. He demonstrates this using a series of videos and putting forth his experiences of dealing with his two-year-old daughter, who he claims is already a digital native.

Gosling or Raghavan are not the only speakers who are putting their hearts and minds behind their talks.

Speakers from agencies such as Razorfish and Maxus have all been doing this through the day - taking classroom-style sessions on specific topics of interest for professionals from the advertising, marketing, media and digital fraternities.

The audience - nearly 1,400 delegates have registered so far - and speakers have converged at Melt, a two-day ad fest that began on Thursday. The festival, the latest in the domestic ad circuit, has been organised by the non-profit body, Kyoorius, the same organisation that partnered with London-based D&AD to organise the Kyoorius Awards in advertising and digital.

Among its partners are broadcaster ZEE and media agency network, GroupM, which have been involved with the festival from the start.

Rajesh Kejriwal, founder-CEO, Kyoorius, says he sees no conflict of interest here with the two industry stakeholders being involved.

GroupM is also an active participant at rival ad show, Goafest. "Goafest and Melt are two different festivals. Who wishes to participate where or partner with whom is the prerogative of the company or agency," he says.

Kyoorius Awards 2.0
This will be the second edition of the Kyoorius Awards that will be declared on Friday.

Kejriwal says a total of 1,419 entries were received across the advertising and digital verticals this year - a jump of 42 per cent over last year. Participants include ad, media and digital agencies, companies and production houses - a mix similar to the one found at the Goafest, as well.

Interestingly, notable absentees at the Goafest, such as O&M, Creativeland Asia and BBDO, have all marked their presence here.

Among those spotted on the first day, was Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer, BBDO India. "We consciously decided to give Goafest a miss this year and last year. We will wait and watch as far as Goafest goes. Let me add that there is a place for both festivals. The formats of the two are different and competition is always good. It helps you evaluate your position and bring about change."

Of the 1,419 entries, 163 have been shortlisted. These nominations, included in a tome called the In-Book, will vie for top honours on the awards night.

"The In-Book winners have already bagged a Baby Elephant. They will now vie for a Blue Elephant. The best of the best, which is selected from Blue Elephant winners, will be contenders for the Black Elephant," Kejriwal says.

Sources say not more than 48-49 Blue Elephants are expected to be declared, while Black Elephants, comparable to Grand Prixs, are not expected to be more than two or three, implying that judging standards have been stringent.

Among the shortlisted entries are the Vodafone Haircut ad by O&M ( a commercial that was widely appreciated on social media for its cuteness), MTS Homespot (where the un-born child is seen talking to God debating whether he should come into a world bereft of technology or not) by Creativeland Asia and 'Red Label Neighbours', again by O&M, where a

Hindu couple bond with their Muslim neighbours over a cup of tea. Contract has its work for Tata Docomo (Bhallai Ki Supply), while ideas@work has its ad for Bigrock called Karma Pest Control shortlisted for the awards, as well.

The two-day fest will be the first of a series of measures Kyoorius proposes to take as it seeks to make it bigger and better.

This year, the ad fest will be restricted to Indian nationals; next year, entries and delegates will be permitted from abroad, beginning with countries from the Indian subcontinent and from the rest of Asia. The fest could be expanded to three days and entries invited from further home in the following years, depending on the response and enthusiasm of the participants in the next few years.