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AAAI's GoaFest launches viral campaign; aims to get global
It's perhaps time to put India on the global map, and with style. Leo Burnett, Mumbai, has created a viral campaign for the AAAI GoaFest, targeting media, advertising and marketing communities both in India and abroad, in an effort to globalise the awards festival
We've heard of copywriters tossing sheet after crumpled sheet of paper into the bin as they struggle to pen big ideas for various brands. But ideating on the magic of advertising? Now, here's some food for thought.
For GoaFest, the advertising festival organised by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), Leo Burnett, Mumbai, has unleashed a viral campaign aimed at taking the festival to greater heights, even internationally. In a sense, this campaign hopes to make GoaFest a global festival that meets international standards (in any case, many of its speakers are experts from abroad, and its format is slick and high on style).
Seven commercials have been created, which are presently being circulated to the email inboxes of the who's who of the ad world, both in India and abroad. These ads can also be viewed on popular sites such as YouTube and various blogs (check out www.adarena.blogspot.com and www.youtube.com/group/adsoftheworld). The commercials can also be viewed on the GoaFest website (www.goafest.com).
The ‘bulb’ men inside a lift, sneezing away in the ‘Viral Ideas’ ad. |
The last two - 'Powerful Ideas' and 'Great Ideas' - show a boardroom meeting in progress, and a man being applauded by a crowd, respectively.
The credit for the campaign goes to KV 'Pops' Sridhar, national creative director, Leo Burnett, India, and KB Vinod, creative director with the agency. According to them, the campaign targets professionals from the advertising, media and marketing fields in India and other markets, as well as teachers and aspiring students in these areas.
"We brainstormed extensively on what this festival is about, and came up with one single answer: ideas," says Vinod. Since the association of bulbs and ideas goes a long way back, it didn't take long for light to dawn upon the creative team at Burnett.
These films, made on a low budget, are also airing on television. The channels airing these films include Times Now, NDTV 24/7, NDTV Profit, Aaj Tak, Dilli Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, CNBC TV18, MTV, India TV, Zee Café, Zee Studio and Tez TV. These are the channels that aim for eyeballs from the ad fraternity. Press ads have also been released, in addition to the television and viral efforts.
Incidentally, last year, too, a television and press campaign created by Burnett was released at the inception of GoaFest. That campaign was more about Goa as a destination, and was intended to appeal to youngsters. Unfortunately, it could not enjoy high visibility, as the festival was in its infancy and there were budget constraints. Viral efforts, too, were missing last year. "Viral is the cheapest and fastest way to get people talking in our industry," asserts Pops. "So, even though we had low budgets this year as well, our job is half done as we have chosen the correct media mix."
The idea of having a campaign in place came from Arvind Sharma, the festival's organising committee chairman, who is also Leo Burnett's chairman and CEO. The films have been shot by Mahendra Bathula and KM Ayappa of The Tuck Box.
Tongue-in-cheek irreverence while appreciating good ideas - this is what Leo Burnett hopes will soon become GoaFest's stamp of identity.
The festival is slated to take place on April 20 and 21, 2007 in Goa.
© 2007 agencyfaqs!