The second half of Day 3 at Goafest 2025 kicked off with an insightful session titled ‘Building a Safer, Smarter, Cleaner Media Ecosystem’, powered by Sync Media, under the theme IGNITE TRUST. The session featured Tejas Apte, Head of Media and Digital Marketing at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Tejas underscored the need for transparency, safety, and effectiveness in digital media. Moderated by Shibani Gharat, Anchor and Senior Producer at CNBC-TV18, the discussion tackled critical issues like ad fraud, bot views, and data misuse—all eroding trust and ROI in the digital landscape. Apte revealed that up to 30% of digital impressions could be fake, causing significant business inefficiencies. He compared digital’s ad-heavy model to legacy media’s more balanced mix, emphasizing how this shift heightens the need for safer practices.
He outlined ISA’s four-pillar media charter and remarked that collaborations with platforms like Google and Meta have helped set common benchmarks and refine metric understanding between input (clicks) and business outcome metrics. With AI and automation reshaping agency roles, he stressed the need for agencies to shift from service providers to business impact partners. While in-housing is growing, agencies remain essential for creative strategy. Apte concluded that the true success of the media charter will lie in broad adoption and measurable reductions in ad fraud and unsafe placements—an approach HUL is already applying internally, with encouraging results.
Next in line, at the Gyaan Podium – The ADAN, was a knowledge seminar on ‘Cultural Marketing can be a Winner: Pulse Candy a Case Study’ featuring Rajeev Jain, Sr. Vice President, Corporate Marketing at DS Group. Rajeev highlighted how cultural insight can drive brand success. Quoting business thinker C.K. Prahalad, Jain opened with: “While it is true that multinationals will change emerging markets forever, the reverse is also true,” setting the tone for a session rooted in local relevance with global learning. Jain delved into the success story of Pulse Candy, which disrupted the confectionery market by focusing on Indian taste preferences. After two years of R&D, the company launched a centre-filled candy that appealed to all age groups—not just children. The result? A viral wave of user-generated content, with even celebrities like Disha Patani organically sharing love for the brand, underscored the cultural and emotional connect achieved.
At the session ‘Sustainability Discussion: The Business Costs of a Warming World’, Karuna Singh, Regional Director (Asia) and Debapriya Dutt, Director, Projects (South and Southeast Asia) at EARTHDAY.ORG, made a passionate case for climate responsibility within the business community. Karuna highlighted that over 1 billion people globally unite to raise environmental awareness. This year’s theme, ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ urges collective action. She also acknowledged India’s strides in renewable energy, but warned that the costs of climate inaction are mounting for businesses.
Debapriya underscored the symbolic and practical value of tree planting, noting that Goafest 2025 planted a sapling for every delegate registered. EARTHDAY.ORG has already planted over 30 lakh saplings, and regularly promotes the gifting of trees as a sustainable gesture. She closed with a powerful quote by Martin Luther: “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
The next session titled ‘The Burnout Cure for Creative Brains’, under the theme, IGNITE FROM WITHIN, witnessed Luke Coutinho, Holistic Nutrition, Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine Expert in a Fireside Chat with Babita Baruah, CEO, VML India. The session was presented by Dainik Jagran in association with Yoga Bar. Luke emphasized that burnout isn’t just stress—it’s chronic exhaustion with emotional numbness and a loss of joy. Differentiating it from depression or regular stress is key, he noted, urging individuals to prioritize nutrition, sleep, emotional wellness, and movement to sustain creativity.
He cautioned against the trap of hustle culture, advocating instead for purposeful urgency over constant busyness. Junk food, poor sleep, and emotional stress were flagged as major creativity killers, while practices like gratitude, breathwork, and digital detox were recommended for daily balance. For workplaces, he underscored the importance of mental health support, emotional intelligence in leadership, and creating psychologically safe environments. With Gen Z and millennials demanding mental health accountability from employers, Coutinho called on leaders to be empathetic, vulnerable, and proactive in managing team well-being.
Thereafter the next session ‘Beyond the 20 Second Ad Window – Crafting Meaningful Brand Moments in the Attention Economy,’ was part of IGNITE THE EVOLUTION, and was presented by Amazon MX Player. This thought-provoking discussion brought together industry leaders Kanika Anand, GM, Media, Airtel; Rashmi Sehgal, Chief Digital and Transformation Officer, Zenith; and Ajay Mehta, Head, Content & Creative Services, GroupM. The session was moderated by Yash Chopra, Head of Video Ad Sales at Amazon Ads.
Kanika highlighted the critical role of relevance in today’s fragmented media landscape. She pointed out that short and long-form content complement each other, with personalization and context driving impact. Kanika emphasized the need for platform-specific asset creation, including music and humor, to capture attention. Rashmi stressed that content context and placement are more vital than asset creation alone. She advocated for interactive formats to build the marketing funnel and stressed customizing content to the viewing context. Rashmi called for a balanced use of short and long formats tailored to the brand journey, with measurement as a key enabler for scaling during early brand phases. Ajay noted that content duration varies widely, from one minute to several hours, requiring marketers to prioritize investments carefully. He observed that short-form is often user-generated rather than publisher-created. Ajay emphasized that audience and message must guide content strategy. He also noted diminishing geographical barriers, enabling broader ad reach. Together, the panel underscored the evolving need for brands to move beyond traditional short ads and craft meaningful, contextually relevant brand moments across formats and platforms.
The next session, titled ‘No Filters. No Formulas. Just Fierce Acting’, part of the theme IGNITE THE REAL, was presented by Rajasthan Patrika in association with Pulse Candy. The session featured actors Vijay Varma and Jaideep Ahlawat, in conversation with Atika Farooqui, Celebrity host, Performer, and Producer.
Vijay emphasized the importance of emotional honesty in performance stating that acting is about ‘being’ rather than ‘showing’. Known for his nuanced portrayals, he shared how deep character research is balanced with mental well-being, especially when dealing with disturbing roles. He prefers subtlety over theatrics and spoke about humanizing villains to heighten their impact. Real-life observation, he noted, is richer than cinematic references. Now shifting from villainous roles to more empathetic characters, Varma remains open to smaller roles if the script and team inspire him.
Jaideep celebrated for his quiet intensity, spoke about the power of awareness in performance—being fully present in the moment. He credited life experiences and emotional self-awareness as the foundation of powerful performances. He praised actors who focus on the craft over appearance and shared how his early years as a dancer shaped his versatility. Ahlawat encouraged emerging talent to experiment and resist being typecast, highlighting his admiration for norm-breaking performances in long-format storytelling. The session was a refreshing reminder that great acting isn’t about formulas—it’s about truth, presence, and fearlessness.
Soon after, the energy soared with the Grand Finale of Advertising Rocks, presented by Muzartdisco. Advertising Rocks Season 3 concluded on a high note with Raghav Garg as the winner and Shetanshu Dixit as the runners up for Indian solo category. Shachi Shetty won the International Solo and Anshita Singh was the runners up. The Duet Indian category witnessed Anshita Singh and Raghav Garg emerging as winners and Shabbir Abbas and Monobina Bhattacharya claiming the runners up position.
The inaugural season of Advertising Plays was highly competitive with significant participation from across the board. Havas Media’s Vikas Sheoran and Pulkit Grover won Table Tennis and TYL’s Kaustubh Pawar and Pushkar Deshmukh were declared as runners up. Hogarth’s Shubham Nag and Meharzad Contractor won Pickleball and Havas Play’s Venkat and Vaibhav Sawhney were the runners up.
The fest continued with Mediakart presenting the ABBY Awards 2025 Powered by One Show, powered by ZEE5 and in association with Guinness World Records. The awards honoured excellence across diverse categories such as Video Craft, Audio, Branded Content & Entertainment, Green Award, Brand Activation & Promotion, Diversity, Equality & Inclusion, Out of Home (Ambient Media), Still Print & Still Craft, Still Digital, Audio-Visual, TV, Cinema, Digital, OTT (Below 1 min duration), Audio-Visual, TV, Cinema, Digital, OTT (1 min and above), Integrated, Young Maverick Abby Award, Health Abby & Red Abby.
The dinner was presented by ZEE in association with ZEE5 and the Afterhours Party with DJ TAN was presented by Mediakart, and powered by Shemaroo in association with Jameson Ginger Ale. Exclusive screenings at Bioscope – The Cinema were hosted by Amazon MX Player, YouTube, SET India, and SONY SAB.
Alongside the main sessions, several masterclasses ran simultaneously, including Nick Eagleton from D&AD presenting ‘AI: A Playbook for Progress’. Jayesh Moorjani of YouTube discussed about ‘Building Brands in the Age of Creators’, Anoop Menon of Meta explored ‘Art of Meta Advertising’, and Ram Madhavani of Equinox Films shared insights on ‘The Hero/ine’s Journey” Advertising. Films. VR.
