Music vibrated at Goafest2023 — from Kanika Kapoor’s pulsating performance on day one to Papon’s effortless crooning on the final day, with McCann Worldwide Chief Prasoon Joshi’s impromptu renditions as well. Even cricketer Harbhajan Singh belted out a rousing number, bringing the house down. And for the first time ever, the ad industry showcased its in-house musical talent.

Even as a lot of delegates could be seen rushing to catch the IPL action on the big screen and cricket peppered conversations, this edition of the ad and media jamboree was firmly about a glorious contemplation of the future of creativity. From agency chiefs to creative professionals to media planners and movie industry personas, there were differing takes on where creativity is headed. Here is what we heard:

Creativity in the age of AI

How would creativity be disrupted in the age of AI? In a session on ‘The Future of Creativity’ moderated by Rohit Ohri, Chairman and CEO – FCB Ulka, panelists Anusha Shetty, Chairperson and Group CEO – Grey Group India, Josy Paul, Chairman and Group CCO – BBDO, T Gangadhar, Co-Founder and Group CEO – Quotient Ventures and Dheeraj Sinha, CEO and Chairman – Leo Burnett and BBH deliberated on this question. The unanimous view was that machine would aid man, and humans would continue to be at the centre of creativity.

Josy Paul put it beautifully when he said, “I have been through four generations of technology – the era of print, television, the internet and social media, and I have embraced all four of them. I think it’s because I didn’t fall in love with the medium. I fell in love with the people I have worked with.” He said, “While there is so much noise about AI, Emotional Intelligence is how agencies and brands will stand out. So when we talk about AI, I want to put EI on the table.”

Interestingly, on the last day, one got a live view of the use of AI in advertising as Leo Burnett executives showcased an ad they made for Airtel using deep fake technology to recreate the unrecorded 175 not-out scored by Kapil Dev in the 1983 World Cup match against Zimbabwe. Technology helped bring to life that remarkable match but as they pointed out, AI was only a multiplier — the starting point was human creativity.

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Nick Law, Global Creative Chairperson, Accenture Song, at the GoaFest 2023

The Seven Principles of Creativity

Structure of Agencies

Both Rohit Ohri and Anusha Shetty were of the view that the structure of an organisation would need to be reframed to enable creativity in the age of technology. “The future structure for an advertising agency needs to be extremely fluid because if you knew what the future is going to look like you would not have a structure again. You need a fluid system and an open structure. I see a lean and horizontal structure. At this point the solution can only come from collaborations,” said Shetty.

As creativity evolves, talent too would also need to keep pace. As Paul pointed out, “Talent should be a combination of a visionary, missionary and an artist!”

Accenture Song’s creative chairperson Nick Law, in his talk said that in today’s age when time is of the essence, technology was imperative for creativity as it lent speed. He said that companies need to have consistent principles, possesses a collaborative personality, communicate with clarity, be adaptable to changes, work closely with technology, keep it simple and start in the middle — with ideas coming from the top deck as well as the lower pool.

Creativity and purpose

Many of the experts attending the event felt that creativity was linked to solving problems. As Aditi Mishra, CEO, Lodestar UM said, “Creativity just for the sake of creativity may no longer be enough but will need to be driven by purpose. When I’m saying purpose, it could be multifold — it could be about changing lives of people or solving environmental issues. And that shift will happen not just in the manner of say the content of the ad but it will also happen in ways that people consume, promote, engage with content. ” She also said authenticity of content would also matter. As Mishra summed up, the predefined norms of what creativity is will be challenged more and more.