AD Agencies
Goafest 2024 welcomes 50 Plus partners for the 17th edition
Mumbai: South Asia’s premier advertising and marketing festival, Goafest 2024 now unveils supporting partners for its 17th edition. Scheduled to take place from May 29 to 31, 2024 at The Westin Mumbai, Powai Lake, Goafest continues to drive interest for curated integrations and engagement from an array of brands. Supporting Goafest 2024 as the ‘Co-presenting’ partner is Snapchat along with WhatsApp as the ‘Technology Partner’, and Hindustan Times as the ‘Digital Partner’.
Given the festival’s popularity and scale, 50 brands and platforms have partnered with Goafest 2024 for various integrations. From welcoming brands including Tata Motors, Mondelez, ITC Foods, Britannia, Guinness World Records, NoBroker, and MakeMyTrip, to platforms like ShareChat, Sony Liv, Flipkart Ads, Amazon Ads, Spotify, MiQ, The Trade Desk and Whisper Media, Goafest 2024 continues to cement its position as the most sought-after creative festival in South Asia.
Additionally, broadcasters, publishers and content studios including ABP News, Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Jagran, Dangal TV, Disney Star, Eenadu, Femina, Flowers TV, Goldmines Telefilms, Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, News18 Network, Radio City, Rajasthan Patrika, Sakal Media, Sakshi, Sri Adhikari Bros, Sun TV, The Hindu Group, TV9, Viacom18, Vijayavani and Zee Media have also partnered with Goafest 2024 in different calibres. PepsiCo, Kingfisher, and Pernod Ricard continue their long-standing association with Goafest as Beverage Partners.
Speaking on these partnerships and engagements, Prasanth Kumar, President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and CEO of GroupM, South Asia said, “We are delighted to have Snapchat as our Co-presenting Partner, WhatsApp as our Technology Partner and Hindustan Times as our Digital Partner, for Goafest this year. As South Asia’s largest creative fest, Goafest’s incredible significance continues to attract brands and advertisers, presenting them with an opportunity to deepen their engagement with the industry at large. On behalf of the organizing team, we welcome and are very thankful to all our partners and look forward to forging successful long-term associations that celebrate creativity, foster knowledge and thrive with adaptability.”
Drawing over 2000 industry professionals each year, Goafest 2024 is co-hosted by The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club (TAC). Goafest has cemented its position as the definitive festival for the advertising and marketing industry over the last decade.
For more details on delegate registration, partnership opportunities, masterclasses, talent initiative ‘Advertising Rocks’ and more, visit goafest.com
AD Agencies
AdTrust Summit 2026 to examine trust, AI and Gen Alpha in advertising
Two-day summit in Mumbai to explore ethics, regulation and the future of advertising trust
MUMBAI: At a time when advertising is navigating a delicate trust deficit, the Advertising Standards Council of India is preparing to bring the industry to the table. On 17 and 18 March, the body will host the inaugural AdTrust Summit 2026 in Mumbai, a two-day gathering designed to spark conversation around responsibility, regulation and credibility in modern advertising.
The summit, to be held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex, will bring together leaders from advertising, media, technology and policy to examine how brands can build trust in a marketplace increasingly shaped by algorithms, influencers and artificial intelligence.
In an age of deepfakes, dark patterns and blurred lines between content and commerce, the question is no longer just how brands capture attention, but whether audiences believe what they see. The AdTrust Summit aims to unpack that challenge.
Day one will turn its attention to the youngest digital natives. Titled Decoding Gen Alpha, the session will unveil ‘What the Sigma?’, a study by ASCI and Futurebrands Consulting that explores how children growing up in a hyper-digital environment encounter advertising and commercial messaging.
The report presentation will be delivered by Santosh Desai, founder and director at Think9 Consumer Technologies and a social commentator known for his insights into consumer behaviour. The discussion that follows will attempt to decode how Gen Alpha consumes media, interacts with brands and navigates the growing overlap between entertainment and marketing.
In a move that mirrors the subject itself, two Gen Alpha students will also join the conversation, offering a rare perspective from the generation advertisers are trying to understand.
The second panel of the day will shift the focus from observation to implication, asking what the report’s findings mean for brands, agencies and society. Speakers include Karthik Srinivasan, communications strategy consultant; Preeti Vyas, president at Mythik; and Abigail Dias, associate president planning at Ogilvy. The session will be moderated by Sonali Krishna, editor at ET Brand Equity.
Day two moves from insight to regulation. Under the theme From Compliance to Trust, ASCI will release its Ad Law Compendium, a comprehensive guide to India’s advertising regulations.
The day will open with a keynote by Sudhanshu Vats, chairman at ASCI and managing director at Pidilite Industries, followed by a chief guest address by Sanjay Jaju, secretary at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Legal experts from Khaitan & Co., including Haigreve Khaitan, senior partner, and Tanu Banerjee, partner, will present an overview of the current advertising law landscape in India and examine whether existing frameworks are equipped to deal with emerging technologies and formats.
Subsequent panels will explore issues increasingly shaping the industry’s ethical compass. Conversations will range from the limits of persuasive design and the rise of dark patterns, to the growing scrutiny brands face from digital creators and consumer watchdogs.
One session will also feature Revant Himatsingka, widely known online as the Food Pharmer, whose critiques of packaged food brands have sparked debate around transparency and corporate accountability.
Later discussions will turn toward media literacy among Gen Alpha, asking how children can be equipped to navigate a digital world where gaming, content and commerce are becoming indistinguishable.
The summit will conclude with a final panel on the future of advertising, bringing together voices from agencies, legal circles and technology platforms to discuss how innovation, intelligence and integrity can coexist.
For an industry built on persuasion, trust has always been its quiet currency. But as audiences grow more sceptical and digital ecosystems more complex, that currency is under pressure.
Events like the AdTrust Summit suggest the advertising world knows it cannot afford to take credibility for granted. The real challenge now is turning conversation into commitment.
