How they moved the needle

THE THREE GRAND PRIX WINNERS AT GOAFEST 2026 STOOD OUT TO SOLVE REAL LIFE PROBLEMS

- KARTIKAY KASHYAP

THREE CAMPAIGNS TOOK home the Grand Prix awards from Goafest this year: Kansai Nerolac Paints’ “The Barefoot Journey” by Tribes Communication in the Media category; Mountain Dew’s “Darescore” by Leo in Digital & Technology; and Center fruit (Perfetti Van Melle India)’ “Kaisi Jeebh Laplapayee” by Perfetti's in-house team in the Best Use of Voice/Technology category.

All three were exceptionally creative and scored high on likability and novelty. There was another common element that tied the three together: How they used creativity to solve real brand problems.

Take PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew Darescore campaign. Nepal’s tourism economy relies heavily on mountaineering, but over 90% of global tourist revenue flows into Mount Everest. As a result, there is overcrowding on Everest, starving the country’s other formidable peaks of income and attention.