Three international speakers confirmed for Goafest 2012

Amir Kassaei, Prof. John Philip Jones and Rishad Tobaccowala to impart their expertise at Knowledge Seminars on April 20 & 21, 2012

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | March 15, 2012

The Goafest Committee today announced the names of three renowned speakers for Goafest 2012 Knowledge Seminars. Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide, Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, VivaKi and Prof. John Philip Jones, Emeritus Professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, New York will impart their knowledge and expertise at the Goafest 2012 Knowledge Seminars to be held on April 20th & 21st.

Commenting on the exciting lineup of speakers for Goafest 2012 Knowledge Seminars,                            MG. Parameswaran, Member of GoaFest Committee said, “We have lined up a galaxy of globally renowned speakers with an interesting mix of creative, branding, digital and media experts for the Knowledge Seminar this year. We conducted a survey last year and realized that the young delegates wanted Goafest 2012 to cover all aspects of communication at our seminars. Hence we left no stone unturned to get the best speakers to enrich and enlighten young minds this year.”

“To reiterate our promise of having a bigger and better Goafest 2012, we have brought the best minds from across the globe to be a part of the fest and engage in conversation through their thought provoking ideas and discussions. I am certain that these speakers will add immense value to our event,” added Arvind Sharma, Chairman, Goafest Organizing Committee.

Amir Kassaei is the Chief Creative Officer DDB Worldwide and one of the most lauded creatives in the world. Born in Iran, raised in Austria, and educated in France, Amir settled in Germany in 1997, gaining experience early in his career in a variety of roles ranging from Account Manager to Strategic Planner to Art Director and Designer at agencies such as TBWA, Barci & Partner and Springer & Jacoby. At Springer & Jacoby, Amir advanced from Copywriter to Creative Director and finally to Executive Creative Director on the global Mercedes-Benz and smart accounts. In 2003, Amir joined DDB as Chief Creative Officer and Associate Partner of DDB Germany, where he quickly helped reshape the agency. After joining the agency as the youngest DDB Chief Creative Officer in Europe, he quickly transformed it into one of the most creative and successful agencies in Germany. Under Amir's leadership, DDB Germany has also been ranked the most awarded German agency in the Gunn Report. During his tenure at DDB Germany, Amir founded and established Tribal DDB Germany as a modern and multichannel agency. Amir and his teams are the recipients of more than 2,000 national and international awards, including 40 Cannes Lions in the past five years.  He was named TheBig Won Report's Top Chief Creative Officer” in 2009, and has been one of TheBig Won'sTop 3 Chief Creative Officers for each of the last three years.

Rishad Tobaccowala helps guide strategy and serves as a catalyst to innovation efforts across Vivaki – a Publicis Groupe entity that combines the collective scale, clout and talent sitting inside of Denuo, Digitas, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and ZenithOptimedia. Working closely with brand CEOs and VivaKi Country Chairs, he helps VivaKi's companies show clients the way forward in an exciting and changing time for marketing.

Prior to his current role, Tobaccowala was CEO of Denuo – a Publicis Groupe company that invents, inspires and instigates new forms of creativity to help brands meet challenges of modern marketplaces. Tobaccowala has also served as the Chief Innovation Officer of Publicis Groupe Media and was the founder and President of SMG Next, the first and most comprehensive futures practice in the media industry. The development of SMG Next resulted in the launch of several successful practices for SMG including: SMG Play, the first company to leverage videogames as a marketing platform; word-of-mouth practice Reverb; and Digits, a leader in mobile marketing. Tobaccowala was also responsible for developing SMG Search, a dedicated unit of SMG that specializes in leveraging search applications in new ways.

Prof. John Philip Jones was born and educated in Britain and graduated with the Economics Tripos from Cambridge University (BA with Honors and MA). He spent twenty-seven years working in the advertising agency business, mainly in branches of the J. Walter Thompson Company in Europe and as a market researcher and manager of the advertising for major international clients. For eight years he was international account director on Unilever's Lux Toilet Soap, the largest-selling bar soap in the world. He has also published sixteen books and 100 articles in professional and academic publications: all on branding, marketing and advertising.

For the record, Goafest 2012 is being organized by AAAI and Ad Club Bombay in partnership for the 5th year. Over the years, specialist areas like Out of Home & Ambient, Design, Digital & Mobile Advertising, Direct, and Integrated Advertising have been growing in importance. In recognition of this phenomenon, in 2012, Abbies at Goafest will have provision for Grand Prix in all the nine verticals- the Grand Prix is being introduced in media awards as well.

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