That GoaFest 2008 was a huge success is no doubt. Madhukar Kamath, President AAAI, and the head of Mudra Communications, attributed this success to a confluence of many factors. “GoaFest 2008 has been a glorious success. This success, I would say, is the result of the AAAI and the Ad Club joining hands for the good of the industry. Every aspect of GoaFest was handled professionally, and we saw an astounding increase in the number of registrations and entries. Our creatives are getting better and better. It had all the good signs for the advertising industry in India.”
Rivalry between AAAI and the Ad Club ceased and this union meant a joint effort at awarding the Abby’s. This has been sealed as Kamath says, “…the industry was aware of the fact that it couldn’t afford a split-up any more in the future.”
The Abby awards were breakneck fun this year. Creative advertising professionals, their work, the agencies, and everyone who contributed to excellent advertising simply stole the media spotlight!
In its third year, GoaFest saw some excellent entrants marking a fresh year. Madhukar Kamath told us that “The second year of Media Awards has seen drastic improvement on aspects right from increase in the number of entries to the quality of case studies and the judging standards.”
And that’s what made GoaFest an important destination for advertising professionals! GoaFest 2008 began with focus on the fun factor—Kevin Swanepoel, President of One Club began his presentation by explaining the power of ‘User Generated Content’ and made the audience aware of the fact that “consumers today control the content in the manner they want.” Calling it ‘communitainment’, Swanepoel elaborated that “users want to be actively involved in the process of communication, and also be entertained simultaneously.” Going forward he made it clear that advertisers needed to understand communitainment and embrace digital technology to strengthen consumer interests and therefore product/service success.
Jagdip Bakshi, Chairman of the GoaFest was quick to point out that “the Abby Awards went off well. O&M has bagged the maximum metals, and the work of several other agencies has been celebrated too.” All said and done, by the end of the fest, O&M’s 58 medals and the lion’s share of the Abby’s—five Golds, 14 Silvers and 39 Bronzes was another testament to O&M’s commitment to intelligent advertising.
The main thing that needs to be said is that the organizers and the management committee managed to deliver a fantastic event that not only generated great ideas but even awarded them! A new generation of adrenaline charged young advertising professionals was part of the event and new dynamics are already underway. Imagine over 800 professionals and most of them under 30! This is a great sign of things to come.
It was definitely true for the Abby Awards and egos were put to the side. Pratap Bose, CEO, O&M was “delighted with our performance this year at the Abby Awards. That said, it is a constant endeavor to perform better every year, and that would be the effort for the next year too.”