Day Two of Goafest 2024, the advertising and media industry’s biggest festival, belonged to Zeenat Aman. Yesteryear’s big screen diva shared her mantras on adapting to life’s challenges and to the smaller mobile screen where she has emerged as a big influencer. The day also saw an engrossing debate on the depiction of women in advertising, new-age marketing approaches and masterclasses on distinguishing between trends and fads.
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The day kicked off with a powerful session on gender-sensitive marketing, where panellists Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe South Asia; Chandni Shah, Chief Operating Officer of FCB Kinnect; Darshana Shah, Head of Marketing and Customer Experience at Aditya Birla Capital; Kailashnath Adhikari, Business Head of Sri Adhikari Brothers; and Ram Madhvani, Founder of Equinox Films, discussed with Kranti Gada of the International Advertising Association on how to move the needle on removing stereotyping in advertising.
Chandni Shah said that 20-somethings at her office were gender-blind and producing digital videos and reels that were authentic representations. Ram Madhvani rued women are now being depicted as toxic men in some films and serials, while Darshana Shah said that advertisers should not go the other extreme and move from fragile weepy women trope to show women as super courageous and heroic. Show the real woman, she said. Rajdeepak Das said it would take eight generations to bring about change in narrative but with ad and media interventions and education, it could be condensed to bringing about shifts in 40 years.
Sharing her success story
Zeenat Aman, dressed in a pale green outfit, looking cool and poised, shared how her success on Instagram was purely organic, because she shared true, authentic content. Her mantra today, she said, was to be in the moment and live in the moment. To youngsters in advertising, she said, her three tips for success would be – self belief, perseverance and passion. “You must love what you do,” she stressed. Her session ended with her picking up a guitar and lip synching to her hit song Chura Liya hai tumne jo. “This is really faking it,” she whispered in the mike, stealing the audience’s hearts.
A session on marketing adaptability saw marketers stressing that the fundamental principles must still be followed even as new-age approaches, including digital storytelling, tried.
A spate of market classes, including one on spotting trends by Paul Drake, Director D&Ad, were held. Drake talked about the ‘The Awe Economy’ and emphasised humour, awe and authenticity while prioritising the product.