Goafest 2026 day 1 ends with a bang, resetting the clock on Brand India

GOA: South Asia’s premier celebration of creativity and advertising did not so much open as detonate on Tuesday. Goafest 2026, themed ‘Reset for Growth’, roared to life at its 19th edition with champagne corks flying, bhangra beats thundering and a conversation about what India must become, not just what it has already achieved.

Jointly hosted by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club (TAC), the festival opened with a ceremonial lamp lighting before Srinivasan K Swamy, executive group chairman of R.K. Swamy Ltd and president of the AAAI, welcomed delegates from across the country.

Before the ideas could flow, the industry paused to grieve. Goafest paid moving tributes to two giants of Indian advertising, Piyush Pandey and Arun Nanda, whose fingerprints are on virtually every great campaign, agency and creative mind the country has ever produced.

India’s moment, India’s problem

The day’s marquee session, ‘Resetting Brand India: From Growth Story to Growth Strategy’, brought together an eclectic panel: Rajiv Kumar, chairman of the Pahle India Foundation and former vice-chairman of NITI Aayog; Prasoon Joshi, Padma Shri, chairman of Omnicom Advertising India and chairman of Prasar Bharati; Nikhil Sharma, managing director of Perfetti Van Melle India; and Padmaja Joshi, managing editor of NDTV, who moderated.

Rajiv Kumar set the tone with characteristic directness. “India is a global example of optimism, democracy, and growth,” he said. “The next phase is building strong state and regional brands within Brand India.” Private entrepreneurs, he argued, would drive India’s future growth, with the government playing a supportive rather than controlling role. India must strengthen manufacturing and exports, compete globally, deepen industry-academia collaboration and leverage its traditional knowledge systems. His parting shot: “India’s Gen Z is no longer looking abroad for validation and ideas. What the country now needs is a major mindset shift across society and policy making.”

Sharma added a sobering commercial reality check. India’s FMCG and consumer market operates at enormous scale, he noted, where affordability continues to dominate consumer behaviour. “While India has achieved huge volume growth, value growth remains limited,” he said, “underlining the need for greater innovation and more premium-quality Indian products.” Better dialogue between industry and government is creating stronger growth opportunities, he added, and global trust in Indian professionals has grown significantly. “Innovation suffers when businesses focus only on low-cost products, but encouragingly, Indian consumers are slowly becoming more confident in Made-in-India products.”

It was Prasoon Joshi, however, who delivered the session’s most quotable salvo. “Brand India is bigger than just a marketing term; it reflects India’s civilisation, culture, and identity,” he said. Visible progress through UPI, infrastructure and GST is matched by an invisible kind, rising confidence and cultural pride. “India must now focus on creating ‘Brands from India,’ not just ‘Brand India,’ by investing more in innovation, incubation, and original ideas.” His message to the industry was blunt: stop seeking Western validation, particularly as Gen Z grows more confident in Indian ideas. “Atmanirbhar Bharat is a necessity, not just a slogan.”

Beyond the boundary rope

The afternoon belonged to Harmanpreet Kaur, captain and legend of the Indian women’s cricket team, who sat down with actor, anchor and fitness enthusiast Mandira Bedi for a session titled ‘Resetting the Limits of What’s Possible’, presented by Sony LIV and powered by Sakal Media Group in association with Dainik Jagran.

Kaur spoke with the quiet authority of someone who has earned every word. “‘Reset’ means coming back to the present moment, especially under pressure,” she said. “Focusing on breathing and taking short mental pauses helps regain clarity during matches.” She traced her journey from a childhood certainty about cricket, she never imagined doing anything else, to the innings that changed everything: her 171* against Australia in 2017, which inspired a generation of girls to pick up a bat and forced the country to finally pay attention. “Success only comes by trusting the process and learning from failures,” she said.

The professional consumer arrives

LinkedIn’s keynote, ‘Meet the Indian Prosumer: Reaching High-Value Professional Consumers’, gave the day’s proceedings a sharp business edge. Dave Yang, managing director for SMB and mid-market in APAC at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, told delegates that India is home to one in five LinkedIn members globally, with nearly 3,900 new professionals joining every hour. “We are seeing a generation of ambitious professionals openly expressing aspirations, celebrating career milestones, and actively investing in personal and professional growth,” he said.

Yang pointed to promotions and career milestones as increasingly potent triggers for brand engagement, particularly as India’s rising professional class drives demand across premium and luxury categories. And with AI transforming how consumers discover brands, he argued, “trusted voices, authentic storytelling, and professional conversations are becoming increasingly important. For brands, this presents an opportunity to connect with high-value professional consumers in more relevant and meaningful ways.”

Awards and after-hours

The ABBY Awards 2026, powered by The One Club | The One Show for the fifth consecutive year, received around 4,000 entries from roughly 300 companies, a striking demonstration of industry commitment. The Publisher & Media ABBY was powered by Zee in association with Times Network.

The inaugural lunch was presented by NDTV; the gala dinner by The Hindu Group. As the day drew to a close, delegates unwound at the Sound-On Sundowner presented by Spotify Advertising, before an after-hours party with DJ Salil, courtesy of JioStar.

Nineteen editions in, and Goafest still knows how to hold a room. The conversation it ignited on day one, about value, identity and the courage to back Indian ideas, will linger long after the last track fades.