Conscious decision to have many sponsors for Goafest instead of relying on a few: Prasanth Kumar

Mumbai: In 2024, being an election year and with global geopolitical challenges, companies have been very cautious about their spending. Consequently, it wasn’t a cakewalk for the Goafest organising committee to secure sponsors for this year’s edition.

To address this, the committee decided to break away from the conventional thinking of relying on one big sponsor or two to three associate sponsors, and instead, onboard as many sponsors as possible.

Instead of relying on a few sponsors to support Goafest with huge sponsorship amounts, we consciously decided to collaborate with more partners and make the event sustainable, said  Prasanth Kumar, President of AAAI and CEO of South Asia at GroupM.

Nearly 50 brands and platforms have partnered with Goafest 2024 for various integrations. The festival has onboarded 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.

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 association with Goafest as Beverage Partners.

“Our sponsors are (various) brands, tech, (and more), that includes every sector of media. And it's good to see that the number of partners are in this huge form because that also allows the fest to have a sustainable model,” said Rana Barua, President of The Advertising Club and Group CEO of Havas India, South East, and North Asia.

Despite initial delays and uncertainty, Goafest 2024 is drawing a remarkable response from the industry in terms of delegates attending the fest. Day 1 saw over 750 attendees by noon. “We expect delegate registration to surpass last year’s mark of 2,000. With the event happening in Mumbai, we are also seeing a lot of walk-ins,” said Kumar.

However, more than the increase in delegate registrations, it's important to highlight the diverse composition of attendees, including technology, entertainment, agencies, brands, content production companies, and all the industry bodies coming together to execute Goafest, asserted Kumar.

Because of the ongoing general elections, Goafest was shifted from its original venue in Goa to Mumbai.

This wasn’t an easy decision for the Goafest committee, said Rana Barua, President of The Advertising Club and Group CEO of Havas India, South East, and North Asia.

“Given the general election-related challenges, the easiest decision could have been to skip this year and come back next year. It would have been criminal to let go of what we had built over so many years. But it's absolutely incredible that the whole team came together and decided not to skip the year,” he added.

This time, Goafest has also created a networking zone where attendees can book slots and network at no additional cost.

Looking ahead, the organisers have expressed their vision for future Goafest editions to be even more innovative, incorporating new elements like technology for enhanced experience and towards an even more promising future.

The focus on inclusivity was another key highlight of Goafest 2024. The event witnessed participation from a wider range of industry bodies, reflecting a commitment to bringing the advertising fraternity together. 

It only keeps increasing every year, which we feel is very meaningful, having a larger industry and all bodies be a part of it," added Mohit Joshi, CEO of Havas Media Network India and Co-chair of Goafest 2024.

"Every year, we try to add new elements and make Goafest more relevant. This year, we partnered with D&AD and have LBB coming to cover the events. Even next year, we’ll try to raise the bar of Goafest," concluded Jaideep Gandhi, Chairperson of the Goafest Organising Committee.