GOA
~Goafest 2018 celebrates 50 years of Abby Awards this year~
~ Publisher & Media Abbys awarded to Stellar Performers on Day 1~
Goafest 2018, India’s foremost advertising, media and marketing convention felicitating creative thinking in India, kick-started its annual festival with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp. This year, the festival is also celebrating 50 years of the prestigious Abby Awards which have been handed out to creative geniuses over the years for their stellar work that has today put India on the global map where advertising, media and marketing is concerned.
The industry conclave presented by Discovery marked the first session of the day with Yog Rishi Baba Ramdev who enthralled the audience by speaking about building inclusive, sustainable, decentralized and just brands. He enlightened them about the philosophy behind the brand Patanjali and stressed upon the need for marketers to build an emotional connect with the consumer. His session was followed by a talk by Kashyap Vadapalli, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of New Business, Pepperfry who stressed on the importance of building trust amongst consumers.
As the sun went down on Day 1, it was time for the presentation of the Publisher and Media Abbys which recognize the excellence in use of media such as Print, TV, Cinema, Outdoor, Radio, Events, Digital & Social Media amongst others. A total of 38 Media Abbys and 16 Publisher Abbys were awarded tonight. While Lodestar UM led the Media Abbys with an impressive 10 awards including 4 golds – the highest number of golds won tonight, Jagran Prakashan Ltd. scored a total of 5 metals, thus taking a lead in the Publisher Abbys. Other notable winners for the evening included Dentsu Webchutney in the Media Abbys Category with 3 silvers and 1 gold and Times of India that bagged 2 golds in the Publisher Abby category.
This year, twelve creative legends were roped in to form the Master Jury which had been entrusted with the task of screening all the entries received, across all the categories and verticals and then to identify those worthy of being short listed. The Master Jury then deliberated on which of the short lists is worthy of winning an award. In its 50th year, the Abby Awards will be reinstating the Agency of the Year Award. The 2018 edition of the Abby Awards will also see a number of categories and sub categories being rationalised, to ensure relevance and effectiveness.
Speaking about Goafest 2018, Nakul Chopra, President – Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) said, “We started Goafest all those years ago with the aim to bring together people from the world of advertising, media and marketing together to discuss and exchange exciting ideas. But today, this festival has grown into becoming one of the biggest congregations of some of the most brilliant creative minds in the country. It is these young people, who come here in droves to learn from and interact with the legends who paved the creative way for them, are the ones who make Goafest a festival worth attending. I am deeply grateful to the fraternity present here for making Goafest what it is today.”
Discussing the Abby Awards to be handed out at Goafest 2018, Vikram Sakhuja, President – The Advertising Club said, “It’s been 50 years since the first Abby Awards were handed out. That is 50 years of unfaltering dedication to identifying, shortlisting and felicitating creative excellence in the industry. Over the years the awards went through a lot of changes. So, we spoke to heads of agencies, to industry leaders and more importantly, to the young creative workforce out there are came up with two key changes to the awards this year. The changes include the rationalization of categories to stay relevant to today’s young and dynamic creative geniuses and the formation of a Master Jury made up of industry masters to guarantee effectiveness. And it gives me immense pleasure to see the industry not only embracing these changes with open arms but also supporting us in our endeavor to keep improving the quality of the awards being handed out.”
Ashish Bhasin, Chairman of Goafest 2018 & Vice President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) said, “Goafest is always a great reminder of the amazing amount of creative talent we have in India. Seeing such young people brimming with energy, learning from the best in the industry and congregating together to exchange ideas is what enriches creative thinking. This year, we have upped the ante by bringing in a lot of technological changes and of course by sprucing up our speaker line up by bringing in stalwarts from varied backgrounds – be it advertising, marketing, music, film, yoga and much more. I am extremely thankful to all of them for being a part of Goafest 2018. Day 1 itself has seen such a great response with packed sessions, I’m sure we are well on our way to becoming the world’s best advertising conclave.”
Speaking about the Abbys Awards, Ajay Kakar, Vice President of The Advertising Club and Chairman – Awards Governing Council said, “50 years ago, Abby Awards were instituted to recognize creative excellence and that objective and agenda remains. For Abby Awards 2018, it was our mission to co-create the awards with the help, inputs and participation of our industry; starting from the stalwarts but not forgetting the youngsters. And what we see today is an outcome of that courtesy the participation of stalwarts who inspire and set the standards of creativity for our industry.”
With industry specific conclaves to expert seminars and ABBYs presentations, the Goafest ABBYs 2018 presented by the The Advertising Club and The AAA’ of I has once again set the benchmark high in celebrating excellence in creativity across media platforms and genres.
To know what’s the agenda for Day 2 and Day 3, please log on to: http://goafest.com/event-schedule.php
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