AD Agencies
AI, angst and applause: Goafest day three blends bold ideas with brave tech in storytelling
MUMBAI: Day three at Goafest 2025 opened not with a whisper but a roar. Under the theme Ignite Hungama, Indian playback singer Javed Ali lit up the morning with a rousing set, presented by Mahindra Auto and Mahindra Electric Origin SUV in association with Bingo! What followed was a cocktail of courage, code, and craft.
Marcel France CCO & CEO Youri Guerassimov delivered a punchy keynote on ‘Creativity That Dares to Disrupt’ – presented by Youtube under the theme Ignite Bravery. He challenged the room to get comfortable with discomfort. “Fear is temporary. Regret lasts far longer”, he said, quoting campaigns like Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ad and Marcel’s own ‘Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables’. Guerassimov pointed out that 86 per cent of consumers expect brands to take a stand, and 66 per cent are willing to jump ship if they don’t.
Next, the session ‘How AI is Rewriting the Language of Visual Storytelling’ took centre stage. Amazing Indian Stories founder & CEO Vivek Anchalia demonstrated how AI was bulldozing old production paradigms. From replacing animatics to cutting the need for bloated crews and locations, AI was making storytelling faster, cheaper, and sharper. His upcoming AI-powered film Naisha will feature machine-generated drone shots of Uttarakhand. In the fireside chat that followed, Landor president-APAC Lulu Raghavan summed it up: “AI is underhyped. Master it early, lead the next wave”.
Anchalia added nuance: while AI could mimic drone pans and 3D shots, it couldn’t replace emotional tonality in sound or a filmmaker’s rhythm. He also advised self-learning over formal AI education, hailing online creative communities as the real labs of experimentation.
Meanwhile, the Bioscope – The Cinema ran a series of sessions under the theme ‘What Ignited the Jury Room?’. Havas Creative India CCO & JMD Anupama Ramaswamy insisted the jury prioritised the power of creative ideas over just causes. Famous Innovations founder & CCO Raj Kamble brought his signature candour, likening case studies to ads that must hook judges in seven seconds. VML India CCO Senthil Kumar reminded the room: “If a film makes you want to watch it again, it’s doing its job”. Youri Guerassimov rounded off the jury talks, reiterating that creativity must remain consistent across platforms.
Adding a personal note, The Advertising Club COO Bipin Pandit launched his book presented by Amazon MX Player and powered by Mediakart. From a viral Linkedin post to a deadline set by AdClub president Rana Barua, the book’s origin story was as compelling as its content. It featured a foreword by Piyush Pandey and an article by Prasoon Joshi. A microsite, www.bipinpandit.com, was launched, along with a Walk of Work display at Cascade.
Day three also served up a buffet of masterclasses. Gowthaman Ragothaman led a session on data, privacy and intelligence, followed by Vijay Singh’s take on game commerce. Nick Eagleton of D&AD unpacked creative liberation with ‘Ideas Unlocked’. Sana Shaikh from Flipkart Ads outlined their latest innovations. Amogh Dusad from Amazon MX Player guided attendees on seamless brand integration. Meanwhile, Krishnendu Dutta and Vara Prasad of MRSI demystified AI’s impact on consumer insights.
Lunch was hosted by Vijayavani, wrapping up a first half that balanced firebrand ideas with futuristic tech.
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:Â 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.
