Kyoorius takes on Goafest

Rival 2-day adfest the start of a series of measures proposed to try and make the D&AD Awards bigger and, they say, better

For advertising, media and marketing professionals, the Goafest will not be the only local ad fest in their annual calendar. Kyoorius, a non-profit body which organises the internationally recognised D&AD Awards in India, will now have a two-day festival supporting the latter.

The fest will be organised in the third week of May in this city, culminating with the D&AD Advertising and Digital Awards on May 22. The two-day fest will be packed with seminars, workshops and conferences addressed by national and international speakers. There will also be an exhibition area where work shortlisted for the D&AD Awards will be displayed.

Besides the UK-based body, which will curate the entire awards show, Kyoorius has roped in the country's largest media agency, GroupM, and broadcaster ZEE as partners. The latter will work will Kyoorius to organise the two-day fest.

Kyoorius, according to persons in the know, is talking to different companies for conducting workshops and seminars during the fest. The idea is to help members of the ad, media, marketing and digital fraternities to take home strong learnings and insights in their respective domains. D&AD is also expected to chip in with workshops and seminars on creativity and advertising. The body conducts festivals such as these abroad and has first-hand experience in this regard, said persons in the know.

The two-day fest will be the first of a series of measures Kyoorius proposes to take as it seeks to make the D&AD Awards bigger and better. This year, the ad fest will be restricted to Indian nationals; next year, entries and delegates will be permitted from abroad, beginning with countries from the Indian sub-continent and from the Asian region. The fest could be expanded to three days and entries invited from even more international locations in the following years, depending on the response and enthusiasm of participants now.

The idea, say persons in the know, is to make the fest a marquee show on India's advertising calendar, putting it in direct competition with Goafest, which is billed as India's answer to the Cannes Festival of Creativity in France.

Call for entries for the D&AD Awards has begun and is expected to close by April 10. Judging for the awards will begin on April 29, ending on May 2. The advertising jury will be led by Nik Studzinski, executive creative director, Droga5. The digital jury will be led by Andy Sandoz, creative partner, Havas Work Club, and deputy president of D&AD.

Members of the ad jury include heavyweights such as Andy Greenaway, executive creative director, SapientNitro APAC; Arun Iyer, national creative director, Lowe Lintas & Partners; Bobby Pawar, director and chief creative officer, Publicis, South Asia; Joji Jacob, group executive creative director, DDB Group, Singapore; Juhi Kalia, executive creative director, JWT, Singapore; Malvika Mehra, national creative director & executive vice-president, Grey India; and Rajiv Rao, national creative director, Ogilvy & Mather India.

The digital jury has Kunal Jeswani, chief executive officer, Ogilvy & Mather India; Melanie Clancy, creative director, BBDO Proximity, Singapore; Tim Doherty, chief creative officer, Isobar, China; and Vassilios Alexiou, creative partner, DARE. Kyoorius is hoping to get at least 1,300 entries across the ad and digital verticals this year for the D&AD Awards. If achieved, it would be a 30 per cent jump over last year, when the number of entries was close to a thousdand. The body is also going the extra mile to get entries from towns and smaller cities, to widen appeal for the awards. Roadshows are currently being organised across the country for the purpose.