To choose to share a space with thousands of strangers for three whole days is a tough call. You have almost no idea what to expect out of it. But the fact that Goafest managed to pull over 2,000 people from the media, marketing and advertising industry and get them to take that leap of faith only speaks to their credibility.
Lots happened over the three days of the festival—over 40 sessions happpening simultaneously in the main ballroom, smaller breakouts and masterclasses. But if I had to capture a couple of things I caught, in essence, here they are:
Create an ad for your ad
During a ‘what ignited the jury room’ session, jury chair Youri Guerassimov spoke about how when looking to win awards and gain recognition, it is important to explain, in detail, how your advertising has had a measurable impact on business outcomes. It is the smallest of details in the case study that make the difference—presenting how your campaign has adapted to different media, the insight or research it was built on, and how it was received. In essence, the idea is to do such good work that you’re not embarrassed to talk about it—in great detail with loads of pride.
Stand for something
According to research by Edelman, 86% of consumers expect brands to take a stand on social and political issues and 62% of people will stop using a brand if it chooses to stay silent on core values. As the world seems to get increasingly divided and radical, it might seem like the safest bet for a brand is to not take a stand on socio-political issues so as to not alienate themselves from a population. But as it turns out, being neutral is more risky. When Nike decided to take on Colin Kaepernick for their campaign, after he kneeled through the American anthem to protest police brutality, Nike initially faced a boycott and a decline in stock. But later that month, revenues rose 4% to over USD 10 billion. The company even received over USD 43 million worth of media exposure from the ad. They took a stand for something, and it resonated with people.
Music is the ultimate feel-good tool
Each day at the festival started and ended with music—soulful performances from headliner artists in the morning, and later, a DJ to dance the night away. Even in the middle of the day, one could take a quick break from intellectual overwhelm and make their way to the basement of the hotel, where ‘Advertising Rocks’ would take place. A while ago, I read a quote that said, the art of branding is to own a word in the customer’s mind. Today that doesn't seem so easy. But maybe you could, as a brand, own a sound in a customer’s mind. The three-minute ads with jingles might not be the best way to go about it anymore, but think—the sound you hear when a payment is made over Gpay or the ‘tu-dum’ of Netflix. Sonic identities are powerful.
We all need conflict
The ultimate aim of life, according to most gurus and saints, is reaching peace. In storytelling, it is quite the contrary. Nick Eagleton from D&AD did a masterclass on storytelling. He asked us to replace the ‘ands’ in our story with ‘buts’. Because conflict creates intrigue. And at the end of it all, we need a consequence—a ‘therefore’.
Take this, for example. “Anne is a scholar and she did well in her test. She told her parents about it and they bought her a celebratory cake.” Predictable? Boring? Now let's try to add some conflict and consequence… “Anne is a scholar. But this time, during one of the tests, she was caught trying to help a friend. Typically they make students repeat the year for such behaviour but they made a special case for her. Therefore, Anne only has to take a retest.” I hope you get the gist from this mediocre example.
AI will allow us to be more human
In his keynote address, Rishad Tobaccowala spoke about how he believes AI will change the way we work. He referred to it as the decline of jobs but the rise of work. Learning the application of tools and manually putting them to use requires a fair share of specialised skill. Today, AI and software-to-software communication has changed this. We no longer need designated teams for analytics, editing, coding and other mundane tasks.
When he did a class with executives from Fortune 500s across America, he asked them to reimagine their organisations—build them up from scratch for efficiency. The outcome? None of the executives reimagined their organisation the way it currently was. Leaner teams were a mainstay. He believes that in the future, we will see hundreds of companies all over the world with over a billion dollars of revenue—not a billion dollars of market capitalisation, with less than a hundred employees.
Technologies change. Relationships are forever.
At the rate the world is changing, it’s unrealistic to expect instant adaptation to every new technology that emerges. During an interaction with Ram Madhvani, he told me that he has been avoiding talking about how many years he has been in the business, because of ageism. But the fact is: he is still a sought-after producer with long-standing client relationships. That says a lot—especially considering that production houses are seen as the most easy to replace.
While Kareena Kapoor Khan’s session might not have been the most insightful for advertisers, it featured a powerful life lesson: be your own favourite. The most important relationship we have is the one with ourselves. At 44, in an industry often defined by ageism, she continues to be a leading actor and a top choice for brands. She didn’t feel the need to jump onto every new platform, yet her relevance remains undiminished.
For detailed day-to-day round-ups from Goafest 2025, head over to freepressjournal.in/brandsutra
