Goafest 2022: PV Sindhu, Vikrant Massey, Ali Fazal, Sam Glassenberg light up Day 2

After an eventful Day 1 of Goafest 2022, Day 2 of India’s biggest advertising festival opened with a Knowledge Seminar presented by MX Player, which saw India’s No. 1 badminton player and two-time Olympic medal winner, PV Sindhu, sharing her thoughts on her career, practice sessions, wins, losses, lessons, experience, family support, and tournaments lined up for 2022, with Sameer Kochchar, TV Presenter, Actor and Anchor.

Not surprisingly, Sindhu was met with a roaring applause by the crowd present. She fondly recollected the commencement of her badminton journey, where her parents played a very crucial role. Moving forward, she emphasized on 2012 being a breakthrough year, where she questioned herself, ‘If they can do it, why not I?’, referring to her opponent who was an Olympic champion. Later, when Kochchar asked her about her on-court strategies, she said, “I visualise who I am playing against and discuss strategies with my coach.” She also mentioned the importance of learning from one’s mistakes and coming back stronger.

While speaking about winning Bronze and not Gold, she recalled her father calling and reminding her, “There is a lot of difference between getting bronze and standing on the podium than being in the 4th position.”

The conversation also highlighted aspects of her training, her time on-court and off-court, her journey, and all the tournaments that 2022 has in store for her.

After her insightful knowledge session, taking the stage next were actors Vikrant Massey and Ali Fazal along with Gautam Talwar, Chief Content Officer, MX Player talking about OTT Superpower – Freedom and Nuances of Creativity. The panelists spoke about how OTT has changed consumer behaviour in regards to content and democratized content. “OTT has given a platform for creators to explore their skills and the exposure to international content made them pull their socks up, and I believe in the last two years, we did do that,” said Vikrant Massey. When asked if there is a sense of competition among the two platforms, Ali Fazal remarked, “Cinema must not die. Every person in the industry comes with the dream to be a part of movies and this dream always remains. Community watching must not be forgotten. While OTT shares a lot of stories, it doesn’t aim to make the viewer a couch potato.”

Gautam Talwar added, “OTT content is for personal watching. 95% of people watch on their personal phones. Only the elite audience will have access to Chromecast and television sets supporting the platforms and they are not necessarily the target always. Family viewing is far away for OTT or may never happen. There are chances that people wouldn’t want to sit with family and watch at all.” He further summed it up by saying, “India is a time rich and money poor country and that is what we consider while targeting.” The insightful session was moderated by Atika Farooqui, Anchor and Creative Director.

Following this discussion, was an engaging knowledge seminar on ‘How Brands win with Video Games’, by Disney Star with Sam Glassenberg, Founder & CEO Level Ex. Glassenberg talked about the potential of video games and how brands can reach audiences through this medium. In his trademark way of delivering meaningful insights, Glassenberg stressed that the video game industry, this year, crossed the $200 billion-mark and is reaching more people than ever; video games, today, are poignant platforms for brands.

Further, he also shed light on the application of neuroscience in game designs. Glassenberg pointed to the significance of optimising the placement of ads during games and creative ways of introducing them through an optimal time during the gaming period. He also spoke of the perils of gamification versus the importance of emphasis on real game design. He ended the presentation on a high note, explaining how game and gaming technology can assist even doctors and medical professionals in life sciences; he also demonstrated it by sharing a personal anecdote. The last session before lunch ended with a thundering applause.

The first half of Day 2 also witnessed two masterclasses – first one from Sharechat with Ajit Varghese, Chief Commercial Officer, Sharechat & Moj; Simran Gaglani, National Lead, Brand Solutions, Sharechat & Moj; and Palkush Rai Chawla, Director - Product Management, Sharechat & Moj, shedding light on how creator economy is driving brand success. The second masterclass was from Google on YouTube Shorts sharing insights on how to reach out to consumers in a cool brand new way through Shorts.

Post-Lunch Agenda

The post lunch sessions will commence with an address by the second international speaker, Menno Kluin, Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu Creative USA, as part of Disney Star’s Knowledge Seminar.

He will be followed by legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, who will be seen in conversation with Charu Sharma, Sports Broadcaster & Enterpreneur.

The Disney Star seminars will be followed by Leadership Summit presented by Times Network, which will see Rahul Shivshankar, Editor-in-Chief & Editorial Director, Times Now, take the stage. Goafest 2022 will pay a special tribute to media doyen Pradeep Guha, who passed away on August 21, 2021.

One of the most anticipated sessions of Day 2 is a conversation between Padma Shri Awardee and maverick Indian filmmaker SS Rajamouli and award winning international actor, author & motivational speaker Anupam Kher.

The concluding session of Times Now Leadership Summit will see Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs, in conversation with Navika Kumar, Group Editor, Times Network & Editor-In-Chief, Times Now Navbharat.

Day 2 will wrap up with the second tranche of the Abby One Show Awards 2022, which include Broadcaster, Public Relations, Design, Direct & Technology, Digital & Digital Craft, Mobile.