'Unexpectations' from Goafest 2013

Aligning with the theme chosen for this year 'Just what you unexpected' and with Goafest only a couple of days away, we asked agency hands and marketers what they are 'unexpecting' from this year's festival.

Ajay Kakar, chief marketing officer, Aditya Birla Group - Financial Services, said, "This year I am unhoping and unexpecting a low participation from the marketing fraternity at the Goafest."

Chaaya B, founder and managing director, BC Webwise, is 'unexpecting' that digital agencies' share the awards night with traditional agencies. "I am also unexpecting pure play creatives getting recognised without technology playing a key factor in the winning works, digital agencies taking a backseat and fewer metals than last year for digital," she added.

Dhunji Wadia, president, Everest Brand Solutions, is 'unexpecting' this current, ongoing holier-than-thou charade to stop. "It is a festival to celebrate creativity - let's keep it that way and enjoy," he added.

KV Sridhar (Pops), chief creative officer, India sub-continent, Leo Burnett, is ‘unexpecting’ that the festival will have boring seminars, people will be sober, and 'no awards for us'.

Thought not really ‘unexpecting’ anything from Goafest this year, Josy Paul, chairman and national creative director, BBDO India shared his expectations from the festival. He said, “The first one is that Goafest is really a celebration of people. It’s all the amazing people who come there and an opportunity to interact with the industry because we never get a chance to meet people from various parts of the country, agencies or even other disciplines. In Goa, you get to see so many people and hear so many different points of views; that it is enriching. Then of course is the celebration of ideas – some brought in by the speakers and some from the work displayed there. And, for me, that’s critical as it opens my mind and allows me to have newer conversations and therefore find new language and become younger. The third thing is of course the awards show. It is always interesting to see what’s new and who are the new guys making the difference.”  

Ravi Rao, leader, Mindshare Asia, feels that it is a good thing that the year always begins with Goafest. “The most unexpected thing was last year we won the Grand Prix, and this year I am looking at some of the entries as part of the judging process and going to benchmark ourselves,” he added.