Indiantelevision.com Team

(18 April 2007 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Touted as the biggest and most lavish advertising gathering in India this year, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) is pulling all the stops for its three day annual festival Goafest, slated to kick off on 20 April.

As Indian media, advertising and marketing professionals from across the country head for the Portuguese township in South Goa, the event will commence with an Ad Conclave tomorrow, 19 April. As a precursor to the festival, the conclave has invited head honchos from across the media spectrum to thrash it out in a discussion titled "15 to 50: The Next Big Leap!"

More than just a topical issue has been thrown at the panellists that follow, most of whom have contributed to shaping the burgeoning Indian media landscape. These biggies will seek to address the shortcomings faced by the Indian advertising fraternity and throw up viable remedial measures to transform the Rs 15,000 crore industry to Rs 500 billion in the next three to five years.

As Goafest Committee chairman and Leo Burnett chairman India subcontinent Arvind Sharma aptly points out, "The Ad Conclave that precedes the festival will bring together 150 leaders of the industry and much like town hall sessions will get them thinking together."

This power packed session will bring friends and foe from the media world centre stage, including Zeel CEO Pradeep Guha, Star India president advertising sales and distribution Paritosh Joshi, NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak, Times Global Broadcasting CEO Sunil Lulla, Madison chairman and MD Sam Balsara, Lodestar Univeral CEO Shashi Sinha, GroupM CEO India and COO South Asia Vikram Sakhuja, Lynn D'Souza, director, Lintas Media Group, Spatial Access managing partner Meenakshi Madhvani and Tam India CEO LV Krishnan among others.

This will set the stage for two days that follow, which will attempt to combine serious debate with fun and frolic. Additionally, a host of International speakers, including Donald Gunn (of the Gunn Report) and Trevor Beattie of BMB, London will throw light on global developments, primarily in the space of digital media.

The happenings of the day will culminate with award shows recognizing outstanding work in the media and creative space. AAAI president and RK Swamy BBDO chairman and MD Srinivasan K Swamy said that the focal point of Goafest will be to honour and celebrate excellent work and provide a platform for discussion that will help grow the industry beyond its current stature.