Goafest 2010: Its final score

Like all good things must come to an end, Goafest 2010, the great Indian advertising extravaganza, too reached its final round, with the announcement of the winners of the Creative Abbys.

The Abbys received a total of 4,400 entries this year, compared to around 4,200 entries last year. Print and Outdoor categories got the maximum number of entries.

Mudra Group with 26 metals and Publicis with 22 were second and third, respectively, in the overall metals tally. JWT, which won a Grand Prix last year for Lead India for The Times of India, stood at the fourth position, with no gold this time.

At the end of the festival, afaqs! got some industry stalwarts to evaluate the entire exercise.

According to Pawar, the media work has been better than last year. He also sees that people are on a celebration spree, especially in the post-recession scenario. However, it's not all praises from Pawar. "In this media neutral age, Abbys should work upon its categorizations," he remarks.

On the other hand, Rohit Ohri, managing partner, JWT finds the overall turnout this time to be lower than last year. There were fewer senior people and more youngsters, he observes. The quality of work this time, he adds, is nothing extraordinary. He has a piece of advice for the industry. "The recession has hit the economy and not the creative minds. So, we can no more sit back and blame the recession for dearth of good work," he says.

Raj Kurup, founder and creative chairperson, Creativeland Asia, mentions the lack of star speakers in this year's Goafest. "Compared to last year, where sessions were addressed by high-profile speakers such as Sir John Hegarty, chairman and worldwide creative director, BBH; this time, there were not many star speakers to look forward to," he says. Also, he observed lots of speakers talking about their own agency credentials, which almost looks like a corporate presentation. Kurup agrees that this year too, there have been entries that were seen for the first time here.

According to Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, Ogilvy India, the atmosphere at the festival doesn't do justice to the seminars that are conducted. "The fest is not just about fun and frolic; it is actually organized in the interest of young advertising professionals, who can get a chance to meet the advertising gods. But in reality, youngsters can hardly be seen at the seminar halls," he observes.

Talking about the increasing comparison between Goafest and Cannes Lions, the industry leaders agree that there should be no comparison between the two. "Goafest has its own flavour, which is truly Indian," they say.

Indeed, Goafest, with all its positives and negatives, rules the hearts of the advertising fraternity. As we bid goodbye to Cavelossim Beach, the cocktails, cheerleaders and the creative minds, the wait for the next party season would simply be worthwhile.