The Pepper Creative Awards Trust has invited entries for the 17^th edition of Pepper Awards,  the leading creative awards in South India. The entries should be submitted online through www.pepperawards.com on or before 5pm, October 12, 2023. There is an early bird discount offered for those entering on or before 25^th September 2023. The entry is open to advertising agencies, media agencies, digital agencies, event agencies, PR agencies, media houses and production houses in the southern states.  All the entries must have been published or displayed for the first time between 1^st January, 2022 and 31^st  March 2023.

“Unlike previous years, this year we have added many new categories and sub categories at par with other national awards in the country, thereby creating more chances to win more awards”, said P  K Natesh, Chairman Pepper Awards 2023. “ Besides  the usual Creative Agency of the Year Award and Advertiser of the Year Award,   we have added a special category – Young Pepper Award . This is to encourage and inspire young creative talents below 30 years, “ he added.

“The highlight of this year’s Pepper Awards is the Life Time Achievement Award to be presented to a senior person based in Kerala in the field of Advertising, Media or allied industries,” said K Venugopal, Chairman of Pepper Creative Awards Trust.  “ A panel of special jury will select the winner, and this award will also be presented on the same day along with other Pepper Awards” , he said. 

Awards will also be given specifically for Kerala based agencies in the Jewellery, Real Estate, Textile, Hospitality, Ayurveda, Media, Banking/NBFC, Retail (Home appliances), Healthcare, Education and Cinema sector. The winners will be selected by a jury comprising nationally and internationally acclaimed personalities who were members of various international jury panels, including Cannes Film Festival, One Show, Adfest , Goa fest etc.  “We are glad to announce that we have a Singapore based jury member in our panel this year who is a Keralite”, said the Awards chairman.

The jury comprises  Deepa Geethakrishnan, Founder, MYO Brands Solutions;  Priya Shivakumar, Senior National Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson India ; Harshada Menon, Group Creative Director, DDB Mudra Group;  Raj Kamble, Founder and CCO, Famous Innovations; Prathap Suthan, Co-founder and CCO, Bang In The Middle: Abhijit Avasthi, Founder, Sideways; Raj Nair, former CEO and CCO, Madison BMB; Burzin Mehta, Chief Creative Officer, Gozoop Group; George Kovoor, CCO Wavemaker India; Joji Jacob, Creative Partner & Co-founder, BLKJ Havas , Singapore; Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous and Anurag Agnihotri, Managing Partner (Creative), Ogilvy West.

The award ceremony will be held on 8^th December 2023.

Shahrukh Khan’s – Jawan has become the first Bollywood flick to feature a brand - Asian Paints through Whisper Media’s brand integration solutions via ICA. Red Chillies Entertainment partnered with Whisper Media for Jawan for digital brand integration to incorporate Asian Paints’s brands - Hydroloc and Royale Glitz in the post-production stage of the movie. 

“Jawan is undoubtedly the most anticipated movie this year and we are certain the movie will have a reach like never before. In order to capitalise onto this mega festive launch, we planned a few brand placements across the movie in order to positively influence the brand saliency. We have ensured that we play up the frequency of exposures to break the clutter through the movie. Whisper Media ensured that we were able to do this efficiently and effectively. This also buffers the brand from fragmentation in consumption as we retain our presence across mediums,” says Mr Amit Syngle, MD & CEO, Asian Paints Ltd.

“We open In-content advertising opportunities for brands and have pioneered this in the TV GEC space. Content, irrespective of the genre, is central to our offering and we are extremely excited in partnering with Red Chillies Entertainment on the mega premiere of Jawan. This also marks our entry into the Film industry. Asian paints and Madison World have been our key partners in the ICA journey and we are delighted to have them on our first movie project too!” says Guneet Anand, Global Revenue Head, Whisper Media.

“Jawan is possibly the largest cinematic platform of the year and we are pleased to have found a way for Asian Paints to be part of it. Whisper Media’s technology and approach to ICA has made this partnership possible in a way that extracts the maximum benefit for our client and we look forward to several more such opportunities to showcase our clients,” concludes Abhik Banerjee, COO, Madison Infinity.

Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in the upcoming episode of ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for praising China for the Belt and Road (BRI) initiatives in Brussels while G20 summit was being held in India. In a candid conversation with India TV Chairperson and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma, Jaishankar said ‘sometimes people reveal their true position by mistake’.

Jaishankar, who will appear on the show this Saturday, a week after the successful G20 Summit, said that the timing of the comment was unfortunate. Replying to Rahul's urge for an 'alternate vision' to China's coercive production model, Jaishankar says, “Look at the timing. India is organizing the greatest event in history, where we should all come together and appreciate it, yet at that time, he is going out and condemning the country.”

"Sometimes people reveal their true positions by mistake. Like when he praised the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) when it passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). However, he refrained from stating that it infringes India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.

Speaking about the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, he stated that PoK is an integral part of India and will remain so. He added that, “We have inherited the problem of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir” and it is difficult to say what will happen in the future. The former foreign secretary turned politician, also shared some inside details of the G20 summit and how India successfully gained consensus on the G20 Delhi declaration. Additionally, he explained how it would help the world at large and open doors of new opportunities.

Renowned for his articulate and strategic communication skills in the world of international relations, EAM Jaishankar also touched upon several topics of international importance.

In Rajat Sharma's headline-making program ‘Aap Ki Adalat’, he spoke about Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), India’s ties with China, the rising Khalistan movement in Canada and India's United Nations Security Council (UNSC) permanent membership.

The Union Minister also shared his journey from a diplomat to a cabinet minister. This episode of the ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ will be aired on India TV on Saturday at 10 PM and repeated on Sunday at 10 AM and 10 PM.

Pixis has raised $85 million in its series C1 funding round. The round was led by Touring Capital and brings the company’s capital raised to $209 million. The new and existing investors who participated in the funding round include Grupo Carso, General Atlantic, Celesta Capital and Chiratae Ventures. The funding will be used to deepen Pixis’ AI capabilities, accelerate global expansion, invest in R&D to refine and launch a generative AI-powered creative studio, and build strategic product and business partnerships.

Pixis develops accessible AI technology for growth marketing and has a rich product suite that includes targeting, in-flight performance optimization and generative AI capabilities. Since launch, Pixis has demonstrated a tremendous growth trajectory, with its platform leveraged by more than 200 global brands including names like DHL, Carsome, JOE & THE JUICE, Kavak, HDFC Bank, to name a few.

Nagraj Kashyap, co-founder and General Partner at Touring Capital said, “We passionately believe in the power of generative AI to transform enterprise software use cases. We see Pixis as a pioneer in this category and have been thoroughly impressed by the platform’s powerful technical capabilities translating into rapid customer adoption. We are excited to partner with Pixis, having had a years-long relationship with the team.”

Creative Studio

Pixis recently launched its creative studio, with breakthrough AI capabilities that enable brands to instantly generate photorealistic creative assets – both 3D images and videos – through simple text prompts. The creative studio is deeply integrated into Pixis’ marketing campaign optimization capabilities, embedding contextual campaign data into the creative asset generation process.

Expansion and Roadmap

“This is shaping up to be an exciting year for Pixis as we welcome Touring Capital as investors; the Touring team have been important thought partners over the years and we are delighted to announce our new partnership. With this capital raised, we will continue to concentrate on strategic channel partnerships with renewed vigour, and invest heavily in our R&D efforts,” said Shubham A. Mishra, co-founder and CEO, Pixis.

This year also saw a significant expansion of Pixis’ AI infrastructure with the company having achieved its goal of building 200 AI models. Along with having successfully beta-tested their generative AI-powered creative studio, they have also released products for cross-platform growth marketing that are proving to be game-changers in the market. Additionally, the company has also begun live deployments of its AI-powered solutions for B2B companies.

Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF), the philanthropic arm of Vedanta Limited, has launched a campaign to address the pressing issues of hunger and malnutrition. Beginning with a personal note from Chairman Anil Agarwal that has been released in print media, the multi-media campaign will include video and digital assets as well.

Commencing in the month of September, also observed as the National Nutrition Month or ‘Poshan Maah’, the campaign with the tagline ‘Agar Bachpan Se Puchha Khaana Khaya Toh Desh Ka Kal Banaya’ highlights the importance of basic nutrition and propagates the need for holistic development of children in our country, to nurture their untapped potential and to ensure that they are not devoid of opportunities of growth. The campaign represents the Foundation’s dedication to build a better future for children and youth in India by ensuring balanced nutrition required for growth and development.

Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Director, Vedanta Limited and Chairperson, Hindustan Zinc Ltd., said, “Malnourishment is an issue that is extremely close to our hearts, stemming from my father’s personal journey and experience of hunger in his childhood. Today, as a group, our vision is that no child should go to bed hungry. The launch of this campaign marks the beginning of a movement that will harness the power of communities as we together combat malnourishment. Our Nand Ghars also focus on the dream that every child has the potential to be a leader and take India to new heights. Through our Nand Ghars, we want to give every child the opportunity she/he deserves. This campaign is another step in this direction.”

The campaign, designed and executed by McCANN Erickson (India), in its first phase, strives to spread awareness among citizens to end hunger and malnutrition and provide equal opportunities to our future generation for a better tomorrow. With this launch, Anil Agarwal Foundation has also revealed its new logo, inspired by a growing sapling symbolizing AAF’s philosophy that there is potential in everyone that should be recognized and nurtured to flower to its maturity.

Sharing his thoughts on the campaign, Prasoon Joshi, CEO & CCO at McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman, Asia Pacific said, “When campaigns are born out of true-life experiences, they are authentic and strike a genuine chord with people. This is one such campaign which genuinely reflects a felt truth and a true connect. It also tries to shake one out of inertia and move society towards positive action.”

DangleAds Technologies, a performance marketing company, has announced the opening of its newest office in Amsterdam, Netherlands, as part of its strategic global expansion plan.

“This expansion represents a significant milestone, reinforcing the company's commitment to growing and delivering cutting-edge programmatic advertising solutions on a global scale,” the company said in a press release.

“The digital advertising industry, particularly performance marketing, has witnessed exponential growth in recent years, with Europe emerging as one of the rapidly growing markets. Owing to this growth, the demand for result-driven marketing solutions has also parallelly surged, and DangleAds is all set to meet this demand head-on. This also aligns perfectly with the company’s newly launched programmatic platform, Audience Connect,” stated the release.

The establishment of the Europe office in Amsterdam echoes DangleAds' philosophy of providing impeccable services to its international clients.

Pulkit Narayan, Founder and CEO, DangleAds Technologies, expressed his enthusiasm about this significant milestone, saying, "We are thrilled to step into the vibrant city of Amsterdam, a place celebrated for its entrepreneurial spirit. This move aligns with our mission to comprehend diverse markets, bridge cultures, and craft a worldwide presence as we actively begin to contribute to the city's digital ecosystem while taking our clients' businesses to new heights.

As a part of our global mission, we plan to collaborate with industry leaders, local tech platforms, and marketing experts in Amsterdam and across Europe to create an extensive ecosystem for performance marketing innovation.”

Harsh Manocha, who has recently been appointed as Regional Head-Europe in DangleAds Technologies highlights, “I'm excited about our new Amsterdam office. This strategic move brings us closer to our European partners, allowing us to tailor our client-centric approach to local needs. We aim to foster cultural inclusivity, build collaborations, and help our clients reach new heights in the dynamic European market.”