Day 3 of Goafest 2026 set the stage for yet another promising day filled with powerful industry conversations, thought leadership, and future-focused insights. The day commenced with an interesting session titled ‘The Client Who Also Became the Agency’, powered by Hindustan Times. The panel featured Raj Kamble, Founder & CCO, Famous Innovations; Gaurav Ramdev, CMO – India & South Asia, Visa; Ajay Kakar, Head – Corporate Branding, Adani Group; Chandan Mendiratta, Chief Brand Officer, Zepto; and Harsh Deep Chhabra, Global Head – Media, Godrej Consumer Products Limited. The discussion was moderated by Rohit Ohri, Founder, Ohriginal. The session explored the rise of in-house creativity, the changing role of agencies, and how brands are increasingly seeking agile, collaborative, and culturally relevant creative solutions.
Raj Kamble, Founder & CCO, Famous Innovations, enlightened on the role of culture and creative tension in driving better work between brands and agencies. He said, “The biggest difference between agencies and in-house teams is culture. Agencies bring outside perspective, debate, challenge and creative friction, while many brands build in-house teams for cost efficiency and tighter control. Creative excellence thrives when brands and agencies work as true partners, and strong agency culture encourages disagreement, experimentation, and bold thinking.”
Highlighting how modern marketing models are evolving towards agility, culture-led responsiveness, and hybrid operating structures, Gaurav Ramdev, CMO – India & South Asia, Visa, said, “In-housing is driven by the need for speed, agility, and cultural relevance, as modern brands must react to culture and consumer behaviour in real time. Long-term strategic campaigns and fast-moving daily content now coexist together, while consistency at scale remains critical alongside local adaptation and rapid trend response. The future operating model will be a hybrid between traditional agencies and agile in-house systems.”
Speaking on the evolving nature of brand-agency partnerships and the need for greater collaboration and relevance, Ajay Kakar, Head – Corporate Branding, Adani Group, said, “The relationship between brands and agencies should function like a strong partnership built on mutual value. Brands move work in-house when agencies fail to meet expectations around speed, relevance, or execution, while the industry must focus more on conversations and audience relevance than only impressions and reach. The future depends on transparent collaboration, evolving with new tools and technologies, and building complementary strengths.”
Chandan Mendiratta, Chief Brand Officer, Zepto, emphasized Zepto’s in-house marketing model as a driver of speed, cultural relevance, and consistency. He said, “Zepto’s in-house model is built for agility and real-time cultural relevance, where social media comments and consumer behaviour inspire campaigns within minutes. The brand operates like a content creator brand, celebrating multiple cultural moments and micro-occasions through highly frequent, trend-driven campaigns. Brand culture cannot be outsourced, and in-house teams help maintain consistency across design, PR, communication, and branding.”
Emerging on how media scale, in-housing, and business alignment have reshaped marketing effectiveness, Harsh Deep Chhabra, Global Head – Media, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, added, “Godrej Consumer Products scaled from being among the top 20 advertisers to one of India’s top 4 advertisers, with campaigns increasing from around 10 to nearly 30 per month. In-housing became critical as business data, growth KPIs, and strategic insights are deeply integrated internally. The focus is not on awards, but on marketplace growth, brand visibility, shareholder value, and aligning marketing efforts closely with business outcomes and sales impact.”
This was followed by a session presented by LinkedIn titled ‘The Great Attention Reset: Because Growth Today Is Built on Trust, Not Traffic’. The discussion featured Punit Dharamsi, Executive Vice President, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI); Tuhina Pandey, Director, APAC Communications & Chief Marketing Officer, India and South Asia, IBM; and Jahid Ahmed, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital, HDFC Bank. The session was moderated by Devajit Roy, Head of India, Mid Market & Growth – Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn. The speakers discussed how brands today must prioritise authenticity, credibility, and meaningful engagement over short-term traffic metrics to build sustainable long-term growth.
Punit Dharamsi, Executive Vice President, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), spoke about the importance of life-stage-led financial communication and trust-building in investor education. He said, “Financial communication works best during key life moments like first jobs, marriage, childbirth, retirement, increments, and tax planning. AMFI focuses on contextual messaging around financial milestones, encouraging young earners to begin SIPs with their first salary. Through continuous, always-on communication, educational content formats, and character-led storytelling, the emphasis remains on investor education and trust-building over panic during market volatility.”
Talking about the growing importance of relevance-led communication in complex B2B decision environments, Tuhina Pandey, Director, APAC Communications & Chief Marketing Officer, India and South Asia, IBM, highlighted that, “Relevance matters more than reach in today’s attention economy, especially when influencing modern buying committees across CMOs, CFOs, CEOs, and CIOs. AI is becoming both an audience and an intermediary, changing how relevance is measured. Strong storytelling, aligned sequencing, and smart repurposing across short- and long-form content help drive engagement across the funnel, with effectiveness ultimately tied to business journeys and pipeline impact.”
Jahid Ahmed, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital, HDFC Bank, called out his views strongly on the shift in digital marketing towards trust-driven and intent-led ecosystems. “Attention today is built on trust, safety, relevance, and frictionless experiences. Marketing is shifting from interruption-led communication to intent-led ecosystems, where credibility matters more than reach. Creator partnerships, peer validation, and educational content are driving both awareness and conversion, while first-party data and personalisation at scale are becoming central to building long-term trust and improving customer lifetime value,” he emphasized.
The conversations then shifted towards measurement and accountability with ‘From Platform-Defined to Brand-Aligned: A Reset in Measurement’, powered by Mediakart & Times Network. The panel featured Aditi Mishra, Chief Executive Officer, Lodestar; Dhiraj Gupta, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, mFilterIt; Neha Markanda, Chief Business Officer, ShareChat; and Shahad Anand, Business Head, Mediakart. The discussion was moderated by Ashish Sehgal, Chief Executive Officer – Times TV Network & CGO – Times Media & Entertainment.
Talking about the limitations of relying solely on platform-driven metrics in brand building, Aditi Mishra, Chief Executive Officer, Lodestar, added, “Platform metrics should be treated as tools, not the final measure of brand success, since performance data alone cannot define long-term growth. Brands must balance data with instinct and consumer understanding, as there is no single source of truth in measurement today. Ultimately, consumers buy products, not algorithms, and strong brand building requires contextual storytelling, emotional connection, and collaboration across agencies, marketers, and multiple measurement frameworks.”
Underscoring the importance of independent validation in advertising measurement, Dhiraj Gupta, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, mFilterIt, added, “Measurement in advertising is ultimately about trust and validating platform claims, which is why independent third-party verification is essential instead of relying only on platform-defined metrics. Advertisers need proof of audience quality and delivery, and measurement must support business outcomes and shareholder value. As the saying goes, ‘the maker cannot be the checker, and the checker cannot be the maker,’ making transparency and accountability non-negotiable in building advertiser confidence.”
Neha Markanda, Chief Business Officer, ShareChat, further emphasized the need for platform-agnostic thinking and culturally grounded measurement. “Platforms should act as partners aligned with brand objectives, where different platforms solve different business use cases and cannot fulfil every objective equally. User participation, culture, and context matter as much as impressions, and brands must triangulate platform data, user behaviour, and business outcomes rather than rely on a single metric. Ultimately, success is reflected when ‘user truth’ and ‘brand truth’ align through engagement, sales, and meaningful cultural relevance beyond demographics,” she added.
Talking about the importance of keeping measurement tied to real business impact rather than treating it as the end goal, Shahad Anand, Business Head, Mediakart, said, “Brands focus on efficiency, money and growth, where measurement exists to support business objectives rather than become the objective itself. Metrics like CAC, ROAS and conversions matter only when they drive real outcomes, as brand building, acquisition and sales each require different approaches. In an environment where every piece of content can be monetised, trusted third-party verification is critical to ensure transparency and validate whether campaigns are creating real behavioural impact.”
Another major highlight of the morning was ‘Scale vs Soul: Creativity in the Age of Agency Consolidation’, powered by CNN News18. The conversation featured Ashish Chakravarty, Managing Partner & CCO, Garage Worldwide; Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous; Senthil Kumar, Storyteller & Film Director; and Tarun Bhagat, Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo. The session was moderated by Delshad Irani, Storyboard, Network18 Group.
Ashish Chakravarty, Managing Partner & CCO, Garage Worldwide, highlighted the changing dynamics between agency models and modern marketing expectations. “Legacy agencies and independent setups operate with different pressures, where larger networks often follow global processes while independent agencies build distinct creative cultures. CMOs today are more aware and proactive, increasingly asking for disruptive, culturally relevant work that drives fame, visibility, and cultural impact, making communication not just operational but a core driver of conversation and culture,” Ashish said.
Highlighting the tension between scale and creativity in the industry, Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner & CCO, Garage Worldwide, said, “Independent agencies are not the only ones creating impactful work—large networks also produce strong campaigns. But sustaining scale often shifts focus towards numbers, efficiency, and targets, where Excel-driven pressures can dilute creative freedom. While the industry is becoming more performance-oriented, brands and CMOs still want work that makes them famous, enters culture, and sometimes requires the courage to say ‘no’ to preserve creative integrity.”
Talking about the role of strong brand-led thinking in creativity, Senthil Kumar, Storyteller & Film Director, added, “Brand ideas build brands while creative ideas come from creative souls, and strong creativity must amplify a central brand idea through persistence and belief. AI is a tool that can improve execution efficiency and reduce production costs, but it lacks emotional depth. It cannot replace human storytelling, which remains defined by characters, individuality, and emotional resonance.”
Emphasizing the point, highlighting a growing industry reality, Tarun Bhagat, Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo, said, “The debate between large and small agencies is often overrated, as great work ultimately depends on people rather than agency size. Consumers remember impactful campaigns, not structures, while brands continue to seek long-term growth, consistency, and legacy alongside faster, culturally relevant ideas. CMOs are increasingly open to bold thinking, but what ultimately matters is delivering emotionally impactful work that strengthens the brand over time.”
In addition to the keynote sessions and panel discussions, Day 3 also featured a keynote on Micro and Macro Resets Across Marketing, Advertising and Media by Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas India, SE Asia and North Asia (Japan and South Korea). Addressing the quorum, Rana said, “The marketing, advertising and media industry is undergoing a positive reset driven by evolving consumer behaviour, changing media habits and rapid technological progress. AI is no longer just a discussion point but an integral part of business, creativity, and everyday workflows, enabling smarter productivity and decision-making. Agencies are evolving into integrated business and communication partners, while the future belongs to adaptable super specialists who combine deep expertise with broader business understanding.”
Furthermore, masterclasses offered delegates deeper perspectives on audio storytelling, social-first branding, cultural ownership, consumer behaviour, and omni-channel marketing strategies.Spotify Advertising’s masterclass titled ‘Make It Heard: Designing Ideas for the Sound-On Generation on Spotify’, was led by Haran Ramachandaran, Head of Creative Lab, JAPAC; Akshita Kolluru, Creative Strategist, India; and Shraddha Shetty, Creative Strategist, India. White Rivers Media conducted a masterclass titled ‘Gen Z in the Era of Social 3.0: A Playbook for Building Brands That Belong on Social’, led by Mitesh Kothari, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer. The Insider Media’s masterclass ‘The IP Masterclass: Don’t Just Sponsor Culture, Own It’, was led by Ansh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, Insider Media. YouTube’s masterclass titled ‘Captivate to Convert: Mastering YouTube’s High-Impact Engine’, was led by Anurag Pasi, Content Solutions and Sponsorship Lead, YouTube.
The Market Research Society of India (MRSI) hosted a masterclass titled ‘The Reset Consumer: Understanding the New Psychology of Choice’ featuring Parameswaran Venkataraman, Co-founder, 3 Big Things, and Prakash Sharma, Behavioural Strategist and Co-Founder, 1001 Stories. The session highlighted how consumers today often get stuck not due to lack of information, but because they are faced with two equally unappealing choices. Through examples from healthcare and smoking cessation, the session explained how decisions shift when a more tangible, believable “third path” is introduced. It also highlighted how rituals, visible progress, and public acknowledgement help reinforce sustained behaviour change. The masterclass delivered a core message – that when outcomes feel real and within control, consumers move from hesitation to action.
PrismX By Mobavenue conducted a masterclass titled ‘Syncing Screens, Scaling Brands: The PrsmX Playbook for Omni-Channel Success’ featuring Saransh Gehlot, Head – Account Management, PrsmX, and Srinath Kotamarju, Head of LCS Advertising and Partnerships.
With discussions spanning creativity, trust, media accountability, and the future of brand-agency relationships, the first half of Day 3 reinforced Goafest 2026’s role as a catalyst for industry-defining dialogue and innovation.
