Since its inception in 2006, Goafest organised by Advertising Agencies Association of India and the Advertising Club of Bombay has been grappling with various controversies ranging from the judgement procedure for awards to the final results of the awards getting leaked before the ceremony. Goafest 2011 will, therefore, certainly be remembered as the first ever controversy-free edition. In spite of this, one central question remains ?have things really changed? Has Goafest been able to deliver on the promises with which it began its journey in 2006?
The first every conclave held at Goafest in 2006 had the theme ?What ails the industry?? and as the name suggest there were various sessions discussing and debating just that. But even after six years the fraternity is discussing and debating the same issues. While one may argue that six years is not a long time in a brand?s journey but if one wanted to see any larger trends emerging, there hasn?t so far. Issues have remained the same, knowledge seminars are the same, and even a majority of the speakers are same.
The only thing that has changed every year is the theme of the festival. So while it was ?Advertising comes to Goa? in 2008, in 2009 the theme was ?May the right brain win?. In 2010 , it was ?Survival of the freshest? and this year the theme of the Goafest was ?Ideas are all around you, can you spot one??.
However beneath this savvy packaging the attitude towards the festival has remained the same. Let?s look at some of the most pertinent issues that the industry has been grappling with since 2006 and which continue to raise dust even now.
Devaluation of creativity
Manish Bhatt, founder and director, Scarecrow Communications says, ?Advertisers decide what they want from agencies. My experience is that most advertisers want frontline agencies. They want a single point of contact. This country has learned to create silos but hasn?t learned to collaborate. Our egos stops us from collaboration and to let one entity to provide the solution. We are like the earlier Indian cricket team who didn?t know how to team up and win.?
He further says, ?The day our industry realizes that we are not supplier of artworks and other creative products and start believing that we are provider of intellectual consultancy, it is only then advertisers will realise that we are provider of their business solutions. And therefore start paying us premium compensation.?
In the 2006 edition of Goafest, there was a session on how the advertising industry needs to increase its value. At that time, Vikram Sakhuja, who was with Saatchi & Saatchi then, and is now with MindShare had admitted that the advertising agencies are not valued the way they should be. ?Advertising agencies need to price themselves not for the service they provide, but for the value they offer to the brand,? he had said. It was also stated that with the emergence of specialised outfits such as brand consultancy and media buying houses, a conventional advertising agency is fast becoming just a creative supplier. The issue continues to be high on the agenda, but debates and discussions have yielded little in the way of solution.
Compensations to the agencies
Gone are the days when ad agencies could command 15% commission, which is now just between 5-8% and therefore margin in the advertising business has shrunk considerably. While agencies have been complaining about it for years, it has not led to any solution. There have been talks about revenue sharing arrangement with the client, which the later says is always not possible because every piece of communication does not always increase market share or spike in sales. In fact, there are certain clients who believe in compensating an agency only if the communication has worked in their favoured or can be measured in some manner. Pratap Bose, CEO, Mudra Max and COO, Mudra Group says, ?It?s a fact that clients are coming down on agencies heavily and it?s heavier now. It is getting very competitive. But intelligent agencies would try and work that to their benefit by doing proactive work, getting out of the brief, if it?s on a fee system do great work on one project so that the second project comes automatically. The economics of advertising is changing. Many agencies are also getting into niche areas like digital where the margin is very high. And by doing that they are offsetting the low income from the creative work.?
Retention of talent
Retaining talent across agencies came up as one of the biggest challenges facing the industry at this year?s Goafest just like the previous years. Everyone was unanimous on how the new crop of professionals is restless and always on the lookout for the next big pay packet. Speakers shared how it is important to look after the career plans of the employees. Proper training for employees?one of the missing elements across the agencies and which plays an important role in retaining talent?though was not given a lot of thought this year. ?We hardly get to attend any training programmes and by rule, the learning is always on-the-job. Meeting the deadline is the biggest priority for us,? said a copywriter from a leading agency on condition of anonymity. This sentiment was shared by many entry and mid-level executives attending the Fest.
Pratap Bose of Mudra says, ?I don?t think agencies spend more than 1% of their total budget on training. There are very few agencies who spend more than that. Agencies also know that despite the training if someone wants to move on they will because the offers that are floating in the market are considerable.?
?With lifestyle changes, today?s youngsters believe in making quick bucks. But if there is a good leader who can motivate employees then we can bring down the rate of attrition. Does that mean it will be less than 25-30% which is the usual percentage of churn? No. But we can try and limit to that. Also, as an agency we have the tendency to train better people. Therefore the seniors, A-listers are send for most training progarmmes. Media is a little more stable,? added Bose.
?Agencies that build a reputation for better training will stand higher chances of attracting better talent at the entry level. From here, retention will be a function of proactive career planning,? agrees Jitender Dabas, V-P and head of planning, McCann Erickson.
However, there are some who believe the platform of Goafest itself provides a great opportunity for training people. And if utilised properly then it can reduce the rate of attrition. Josy Paul, chairman and national creative director, BBDO, says, ?I think Goafest is a great training ground. There?s so much to learn from the work and the many interesting people who are present there from the business. The people who are complaining should get their heads, and tails, examined. May be they should wake up.?
Awards controversy
While for the last few years, scam ads, questions about the judging procedure and leaking of results to the media took away the shine from the Abby awards, this year was a tad better with no such controversy erupting. At the same time, non-participation of some leading agencies in the competitive category continue to be a sore point, though agencies had their reasons for doing so.
Says Josy Paul, chairman and NCD, BBDO, ?At BBDO India, we did not enter Goafest because a lot of our work is category-unfriendly. Not participating has its rewards. I was able to truly enjoy the celebration of ideas. I noticed that many of the top ten winners were looking rather sad than happy! There?s only one truth in the awards game: You win some, you lose some. Awards are important! They are the new currency. But in the end, you?ve got to believe in yourself and the contribution you have made to industry standards. Self belief is worth its weight in gold.?
Manish Bhatt of Scarecrow Communication feels, ?This is a problem of agencies who are building their foundation based on awards. Awards are a byproduct of good advertising. But many people think good advertising is a byproduct of awards, which is a miscalculation. You can?t build your credibility only by winning awards. There should be much more than awards. For instance, a meaningful advertising does not need an award.?
This year too, certain trivial matters surfaced which brought to the fore a much larger issue. Mysteriously Creativeland Asia?s name went missing from the soft copy of the Creative Abbys result sheet forwarded to the journalists. This not only angered the agency?s owner Raj Kurup but he also got a lot of support from the fraternity when he pointed out this error on Facebook. While Kurup?s annoyance is justified, what remains unclear is why has not the two award ceremonies been able to command the respect and seriousness they should have. Every member of the fraternity who commented on Kurup?s post on the social networking webiste called the Creative Abbys a ?sham?.
If year after year, the industry can come under one roof to celebrate quality work and share views, why can?t Goafest be used as a platform to zero on a plan of action for the industry by setting annual targets? ?Conferences like these are not meant to take a decision. Such gatherings go a long way in sensitising people to burning issues in the industry and throwing up progressive ideas,? says Sam Balsara, MD and chairman of Madison World. ?I agree that there are issues that keep cropping up and they get discussed at Goafest. But personally I feel that Goafest is not the right platform to discuss industry issues because everyone is in a very chilled out mood. And if these issues are to be discussed then there should be separate forums or events under AAAI or Ad Club or ASCI in a much more formal environment,? says Bose.
So how seriously does the advertising and media industry take Goafest? ?Goafest is important because it creates a feeling of fraternity amongst the young people who come there. It makes you a part of an industry which is a good thing. But I do agree that the young people heading to Goafest don?t necessarily excitedly look forward to attending the knowledge sessions there. The restricted attendance of the account management and planning functions and the distance from Delhi also limits the attendance of both the advertising as well as the marketing fraternity, ? says Dabas.
Pawar believes that every problem can be sorted out through dialogue and the industry should keep its faith in Goafest. Sridhar, aka, Pops has a word of caution. ?We must not forget that members of the Goafest committee hail from reputed agencies. These people give more than three months towards planning this event for the good of the industry and we must respect that. We should not take Cannes as a benchmark all the time.?