Monsoon & Musings: India’s advert brains ponder Goafest’s future

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“We should depend our blessings,” stated Dheeraj Sinha, group chief govt officer (CEO)—India and South Asia, FCB, and a key organizer. “We’re again in Goa, the dimensions is greater, participation is far greater than in Bombay… extra companies are successful… numerous thought has gone into the programming.”

Indeed, the numbers have been up, a document 4,076 Abby entries have been filed by 233 organizations. Attendance surpassed the earlier yr’s Mumbai version. There was a visibly wider unfold of winners. Newer companies and rising voices have been discovering area. The intermittent rains added a romantic, reflective temper to the fest, with delegates lingering in open courtyards for deeper conversations. But not all was properly in paradise.

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The movie star classes have been packed, and the awards nights have been electrical. But the information classes, which have been meant because the mental anchor of any critical trade occasion, struggled for footfall. “You can’t simply inject folks into rooms; it’s a must to appeal to them in,” Sinha conceded. “There are questions across the present’s format, the content material, the awards… and our method is to be extraordinarily open.”

The name for an even bigger tent

Ashish Sehgal, chief progress officer—advert income at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, stated, “The trade has a novel alternative to steer the coveted Goafest in the direction of a extra future-ready imaginative and prescient, positioning it as India’s reply to Cannes. While the occasion continues to be a powerful platform, there’s room to boost its worth by going past sponsored narratives and embody broader, skill-driven classes centred round rising media tendencies.”

He pointed to the absence of upskilling alternatives for younger expertise. “While some star presence helps draw crowds, actual worth lies in providing recent studying and significant engagement. Masterclasses have been a welcome step, and the Abbys proceed to be the distinguished and credible spotlight. However, extra publicity and entry are wanted for youthful expertise to be taught from seasoned professionals, showcasing new-age insights blended with the ability of conventional media.”

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There can be a basic query of entry. “Greater inclusion of mid-tier advertisers, regional companies and rising entrepreneurs is essential and can solely strengthen the platform. With collaboration throughout sectors, Goafest can proceed to evolve into a real celebration of creativity, studying and innovation,” he stated

Beyond the awards-driven psychology

Shashi Sinha, govt chairman of IPG Mediabrands India, was simply as direct. “The enterprise has moved utterly, and perhaps we haven’t caught up. The individuals who run this — folks like us — are nonetheless mainstream company of us. We speak about information and tech, however we aren’t actually integral to this occasion.”

For him, the awards have grow to be the centrepiece moderately than the end result. “Plan a Goafest with out the awards first,” he challenged. “Build it round studying, innovation, and trade evolution. That will change the complete psychology. There’s nothing fallacious with the awards per se. But for those who construct the pageant round them, that’s an issue. We want a high-quality, working pageant that begins with the proper priorities. Think of this as a pageant for the trade. What is the principle agenda? That’s what wants readability.”

But the emotional heft of recognition can’t be dismissed. “It nonetheless issues,” stated Paritosh Srivastava, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi India, BBH India and Saatchi Propagate. “To that child who picks up an award? It’s a second of recognition.” Still, Srivastava isn’t blind to the cracks. “This yr, we let delegates vote on session subjects. We’re additionally floating the concept of gathering suggestions… the intent is there.”

The actual pivot, he argued, have to be philosophical, shifting from a pure celebration to a platform that helps the trade evolve via panels that provoke and conversations that problem.

Surfing the waves of change

That sentiment resonated with Shubhranshu Singh, chief advertising and marketing officer (CMO) at Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles. “There are excessive waves of change: automation, AI and the decline of globalization. Brand builders have to be taught browsing. Being an professional swimmer is turning into a fundamental requirement,” he warned, including that “errors ought to be celebrated, too.”

Abraham Thomas, CEO of Reliance Broadcast Network, a Goafest common for over a decade, concurred. “The panels want to maneuver past informal chat. It’s time to infuse construction, information, various views, and brisker voices. Let’s break the previous boys’ membership and reimagine this for the following 20 years, not the final.”

Even Manisha Kapoor, CEO of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), whereas acknowledging the worth of formal classes, emphasised the casual ones. “Beyond the formal occasions, the casual conversations and reconnections are extraordinarily helpful.”

That, maybe, is Goafest’s enduring paradox. Its structured classes would possibly falter, however its unstructured moments, the impromptu brainstorms, poolside provocations, and probability reconnections, are the place its pulse lies. But as Kapoor’s perception suggests, in a contemporary pageant, even serendipity have to be designed for. Charm and legacy can solely take it thus far. Not in an trade fuelled by disruption. Not when youthful creatives are asking tougher questions. Not when manufacturers are demanding proof, not reward.

Goafest 2025 had the climate, the winners, the whisky, and sure, the need to hear. What it now wants is the braveness to reinvent. Because, as one govt murmured, elevating a toast below the Goan drizzle, “You can’t name it the pageant of creativity if the conversations have stopped being artistic.”