(L to R) Fireside chat on diversity, equity and inclusion with Suhela Khan, country program manager, We Empower Asia, UN Women, Dheeraj Sinha, CEO and chief strategy officer, South Asia, Leo Burnett, Rathi Gangappa, CEO, Starcom India and Rohit Ohri, Chai
PANAJI
The third and last day of Goafest 2022 began with Indian Women’s Cricket captain Mithali Raj sharing her success story with Sharlene Lobo, anchor, Mirror Now. Giving the credit of her initiation into cricket to her father, Mithali said that the very reason she got into cricket was her father. She fondly recollected her father enrolling her into sports to inculcate a sense of discipline. Taking that further, she also mentioned a time before her Class 12 board exams, when her parents coaxed her to choose World Cup selections over examinations. Further, discussing the rising profile of women’s cricket in India, Mithali said that there have been many improvements over the last decade, from training to accessible amenities. She emphasized on the importance of nurturing a sports culture across India.
Mithali also described the feeling when India was eliminated while playing against South Africa in ICC Women's World Cup 2022. Highlighting the importance of self-control over mental and emotional aspects of one's being, she stressed the need for a strong and sturdy mindset. The session concluded with a mention of an upcoming movie based on Mithali Raj called 'Shabaash Mithu' to be released soon.
Following this was a digital conclave presented by Meta, which saw an introductory welcome address by Gowthaman Ragothaman, CEO, Aqilliz and co-founder Web3 Marketing Association who talked about digital marketing challenges faced by the companies in the current era and how block chain can be used in marketing.
This was followed by a keynote delivered by Sandeep Bhushan, director and head of India GMS for Meta who enthralled the audience with his insights on the road to the metaverse – interaction and immersion. He spoke about how the internet evolved from a text-based platform, to photos, videos and is now looking at an immersive experience. He added, “Metaverse will feel different. It will have continuity, your presence and will be connected across multiple devices.”
Following the insightful session was a fireside chat on diversity, equity and inclusion with Rathi Gangappa, CEO, Starcom India, Dheeraj Sinha, CEO and chief strategy officer, South Asia, Leo Burnett, Rohit Ohri, Chairman and CEO FCB Ulka and Suhela Khan, country program manager, We Empower Asia, UN Women on the panel. The panel passionately spoke about various ways in which diversity, equity and inclusion can be imbibed in organisations across the board. Rathi stated that organisations should begin enabling women and promoting inclusivity. Dheeraj, while answering a question on changes that need to be inculcated, said, “We have to change cultural archetypes.” He emphasized the need to do or change small things that promote a culture of comfort. Suhela, too, stressed on the need to make industries gender-responsive and inculcate the values and principles of women’s empowerment stating statistical proof-points wherein inclusivity has positively impacted business growth.
There were masterclasses from industry experts. The first masterclass presented by FCB Ulka, conducted by Keigan Pinto, chief creative officer, FCB Ulka was a creative workshop. The second masterclass presented by Publicis Groupe was a tech talk by Amaresh Godbole, CEO Digital Technology Business, Publicis Groupe India who threw light on marketing and creative applications of Web 3.0.
