MAM
Goafest 2015 unveils speakers for knowledge seminars
MUMBAI: In the tenth year of one of India’s premier advertising festival- Goafest, the celebration is poised to get bigger and better.
The festival, which will take place at the Grand Hyatt, Bambolim in Goa from 9-11 April, will continue being a three day festival, with three award nights, and with the categories remaining more or less the same, like last year.
Hosted by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Advertising Club, the event is known to be a hub of learning. “We have, year on year, expanded the width of our speakers, and we will continue doing that,” said Goafest chairman and AAAI vice president Nakul Chopra, while revealing the first list of speakers for this year’s event.
The speakers for the knowledge seminar include: Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific chief creative officer Ted Lim, 180 Amsterdam president and creative officer Alan Moseley, Facebook APAC region head of agency Neil Stewart, ZenithOptimedia worldwide strategic marketing officer Guy Abrahams and author and mythologist Devdutt Pattanik.
“Further list of speakers will be announced in a week or so,” informed Percept director Ajay Chandwani.
“Goafest 2015 will have a great mix of speakers. Our effort is to get the 2500 plus participants to listen to and interact with the best, the world has to offer. As in the previous years, we will have stimulating Q&A sessions moderated by senior marketing professionals,” said AAAI president MG Parameswaran.
Goafest has been skewed towards the youth since its inception. “Fifty per cent of the people attending are under the age of 30 years and we continue to encourage them to come for the three day festival,” added Chopra.
Explaining the flow of events during Goafest, Chopra informed that while the Advertising Conclave will be held on day one, the knowledge seminars will take place on the second and third day.
“There will be a Leadership Summit on 11 April, which will bring together best minds in the field of advertising, communications and marketing industry to discuss, debate, interact, offer thoughts and experiences, share ideas and questions on the industry,” he informed, adding that the programmes will also have a series of presentations from leaders in their respective fields and panel debates.
Goafest 2015 will also see the introduction of Youth Labs for young delegates. “These Youth Labs will have a separate Creative Lab and Media Lab. The aim of these Youth Labs will be to provide a platform for youngsters to interact with the stalwarts of the industry and get them to sharpen and hone their skills,” said Chopra.
The tenth year celebration will be grander, and in keeping with this, the organizers have roped in professionals to host the award ceremonies. “You will see a huge difference in the awards ceremony as compared to the previous year,” opined Parameswaran.
As for the awards and awards category, not much has changed from the previous year. “The feedback that we got about the previous edition of Goafest was that it was spot on, and so we decided to not bring in too many changes in the awards this year,” informed Chandwani.
The organising committee has reinstated Radio Craft award this year, which was removed in the previous edition. According to Chandwani, digital is the most evolving category and thus it is this category which sees the maximum changes every year. “But this year, only a few categories have been merged, everything else remains unchanged,” informed Chandwani.
The award shows for various verticals will be held on:
9 April: Media and Publisher Abby Awards
10 April: Design, Direct, Brand activation and promotion, Public Relations, Out of Home and Ambient Media, Print Craft, Branded Content and Entertainment and Broadcaster Abby Awards
11 April: Digital & Mobile, Radio, Radio Craft, Print, Film, Film Craft and Integrated Advertising Abby Awards
Talking about the purpose of the event, Parameswaran said that it was to bring pride and belongingness to the industry. “Through this, we wanted to inspire the young people to stay in the advertising industry and grow it,” he added.
While every year, the festival has a theme, the organising committee is calling this year as the ’10 years of Goafest.’
The big question that is currently hovering around the fest is if the big names like Ogilvy & Mather and McCann Worldgroup among others will participate in this edition of Goafest. When quizzed on their participation, Chopra said, “We are talking to the agencies. Our job is to put up a good show and so we are in conversation with everyone. Now whether they participate or not, is up to them.”
It can be noted that in 2014, both Oglivy & Mather and McCann Worldgroup along with Creativeland Asia, BBDO, Leo Burnett and Grey did not participate in the Creative Abbies, following controversies.
Controversies aside, the organisers, controversies are expecting a great turnout in this season. “Last year 275 companies had sent entries and 240 companies had sent delegates,” informed Chandwani.
Brands
Yes Madam taps Rajpal Yadav’s Chota Don nostalgia to power new digital campaign
Home salon platform ropes in Tanya Mittal as it bets on humour and pop culture to showcase trust and convenience
NOIDA: India’s fast-growing home salon platform Yes Madam is leaning on nostalgia and a dose of comic chaos to pitch its services. The brand has launched a new digital campaign starring Rajpal Yadav and influencer Tanya Mittal, reviving Yadav’s much-loved Chota Don character to underline the reliability of at-home beauty services.
The campaign marks Yes Madam’s first collaboration with Rajpal Yadav and revisits the quirky Chota Don persona made famous in the 2007 film Partner. Produced with Footloose Films, the film blends slapstick humour with a nostalgic callback to spotlight the platform’s promise of dependable, quality services delivered at home.
The storyline plays out like a miniature action comedy. Tanya Mittal finds herself surrounded by goons and calls for help, only for Rajpal Yadav to appear in full Chota Don mode, dispatching the attackers in his trademark comic style as Mittal cheers him on. The drama then flips abruptly to a calmer scene, with Mittal relaxing at home while enjoying a Yes Madam service and insisting the heroic episode really happened, even as posters of Chota Don decorate her house. The film ends with Yadav’s voiceover declaring that the incident may or may not have happened, but the trust and quality of Yes Madam’s services certainly have.
The collaboration also follows a broader show of support for Rajpal Yadav within the industry. In the growing wave of backing for the veteran actor, Mayank Arya, co-founder and chief executive of Yes Madam, publicly supported actor-producer Sonu Sood’s call for concrete help from the film industry and corporate brands. Arya took to the social media platform X urging companies to move beyond expressions of sympathy and instead offer tangible opportunities to the actor amid his ongoing legal and financial challenges.
He wrote, “Seconded @SonuSood. Even brands should come forward to help the great talent. @Rajpalofficial will also be a part of an ad film @_yesmadam! Have already aligned the team on it. #ComeBackStronger.”
Seconded @SonuSood. Even brands should come forward to help the the great talent.@Rajpalofficial will also be a part of an ad film @_yesmadam !
Have already aligned the team on it.#ComeBackStronger https://t.co/Q7qpJttLTs— Mayank Arya (@iammayankarya) February 11, 2026
Rajpal Yadav recently surrendered at Tihar Jail after the Delhi High Court rejected his plea seeking additional time to repay dues in a long-running cheque-bounce case. The actor had been accused in the case in 2018 after he was unable to repay a loan taken for a film project that failed at the box office. The court later ordered him to surrender after the dues remained unpaid.
The situation triggered a wave of support from several high-profile figures. Sonu Sood emerged as one of the most prominent voices, expressing solidarity and promising Yadav a role in his next film. Sood emphasised that industry support should be about dignity and real job opportunities rather than charity. Celebrities including Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Gurmeet Choudhary and Guru Randhawa have also publicly extended financial and professional support.
Before surrendering, Rajpal Yadav shared an emotional statement in which he spoke about feeling alone and unsupported, a remark that struck a chord with many in the industry. However, his brother later clarified that the actor would never have intended to suggest that he lacked support from colleagues or well-wishers.
Reflecting on the campaign, Mayank Arya said the film was designed to entertain while strengthening the brand’s message. “At Yes Madam, we have always believed in creating campaigns that connect with audiences in an engaging and memorable way. I had earlier spoken about the importance of extending meaningful opportunities to Rajpal Yadav, and we are glad to be the first brand to take that step forward with this collaboration. Through this film, we wanted to create a compelling narrative while also reinforcing the trust and reliability that customers associate with Yes Madam’s services,” Arya said.
Akanksha Vishnoi, co-founder, said the campaign leans on nostalgia to strike a chord with digital audiences. “Consumers today engage deeply with content that blends entertainment with relatability. With this campaign, we wanted to revisit a nostalgic moment while subtly reinforcing the convenience and reliability of at-home services. Rajpal Yadav’s Chota Don is an iconic character that instantly evokes nostalgia and humour, making it the perfect fit for this campaign. Tanya Mittal’s presence added a vibrant energy and helped us bring the vision of the campaign to life,” Vishnoi said.
Founded in 2016, Yes Madam offers salon and spa services at home through trained professionals using hygienic, single-use product formats. The platform now operates in more than 55 cities across India, pitching convenience, transparency and quality to a growing base of urban consumers.
The new campaign, rolling out across social media and video platforms, makes its pitch with a wink. The Chota Don rescue might be fiction, but the promise of a salon at your doorstep, the brand suggests, is the real deal.
