MAM
PokerBaazi.com unveils ‘You Hold the Cards’; onboards Shahid Kapoor
Mumbai: Online poker platform PokerBaazi.com has launched its new brand campaign ‘You Hold the Cards’ featuring their brand ambassador and Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor.
With the campaign titled ‘You Hold the Cards’, the brand aims to create awareness about poker as a skill-based sport and establish that in poker, the game is under your control, and one can emerge victorious based on skills, determination, and right strategy.
As part of the campaign, a brand film has been launched featuring Shahid Kapoor, which showcases him as the protagonist who goes through various unexpected situations that aren’t under his control. However, he continues to focus on his game on the PokerBaazi app and finally comes on top with his true resilience and skills. The film attempts to debunk the myth of luck playing an upper hand in poker while the reality is that skill is the key element to success.
Speaking on the campaign launch, Baazi Games co-founder and marketing director Varun Ganjoo said, “Poker is a sport, period. Poker is also a lot of fun. We are extremely thrilled with the launch of our campaign “You Hold the Cards” and excited to have Shahid Kapoor as our flagbearer. The idea of this campaign is primarily to create awareness around poker as a skill sport which the brand film captures beautifully. This is a big step forward towards making poker a household game in our country. While our approach is digital-first, the campaign shall be promoted across all possible avenues aligned with our target audience.”
Shahid Kapoor said, “When I was introduced to the key insight behind the PokerBaazi campaign, ‘Experts are made, not born,’ it resonated with me instantly and got me all excited. Being able to control one’s fate with the right planning, strategy & sheer grit, and eventually emerging victorious is almost identical to our lives. I strongly believe that the campaign will showcase online poker as a sport which is equally fun & thrilling and will win the hearts of the audiences.”
The campaign designed and conceptualised by Wieden+Kennedy, will go LIVE across channels including social media, OOH, OTT amongst others.
Commenting on the campaign, Wieden+Kennedy creative directors Amrish Kondurkar and Sunayna Sabharwal said, “Poker is a new space in the world of gaming apps in India and it does come with its baggage of being exclusive for only those who know how to play the game well and therefore makes it a bit limiting. We wanted to treat this campaign as a way to build a personality for the brand which is truly distinct. While the category goes behind the usual areas of winning/making money, we created a space which came from a true-life insight and could make people feel they had a chance. That’s where the tagline, Pokerbaazi, ‘You hold the cards’ came from. To clearly establish that what matters is your skill and not luck.”
They further added, “We kept the tonality fun with a strong attitude so that a regular person with a smartphone would feel like taking a shot. Whether it’s the film, the music or the print campaign, each touch point goes back to our attempt to make the Pokerbaazi app a must have on their phone.”
PokerBaazi.com’s announcement of its association with Shahid Kapoor earlier this week comes at a time when the platform recently recorded a billion poker hands being played on its app since its origin in October 2014. The customer-first platform, co-founded by a group of passionate poker lovers, has acquired the top rank in the segment and this campaign, according to the brand, is certainly going to level up poker in India.
MAM
Ad:tech honours 2026: Full list of winners announced
Expanded awards spotlight winners across 22 categories as industry doubles down on intelligent automation
NEW DELHI: Marketing’s tech elite took the spotlight as the ad:tech honours 2026 returned with a sharper focus on AI, data and immersive media, signalling how deeply technology now underpins brand strategy. Held at Yashobhoomi on March 17, the second edition drew industry leaders to celebrate innovation that is reshaping engagement and performance.
Presented with the International Advertising Association India chapter and new partner Huella, the awards expanded from 8 to 22 categories, tracking the rapid convergence of creativity, automation and analytics.
The winners’ list reads like a snapshot of marketing’s future. In affiliate and partner marketing, Lyxel & Flamingo – Boat and Paytm Ads – Giva took silver. Mobavenue Media Private Limited struck gold in AI-driven dynamic creative optimisation, alongside a silver for Laqshya Media Limited.
Creative AI collaboration saw Rediffusion Brand Solutions Private Limited win gold, with Saltinc Consulting Private Limited securing silver. Laqshya Media Limited continued its strong run, taking gold in AI conversation agents and adding multiple wins across categories, including silver in GenAI-led creative and both gold and silver in interactive DOOH campaigns for Tanishq and Tata Coffee.
Predictive AI honours went to Strong Metrics and Tyroo, both silver, while Orient Bell Limited picked up silver in immersive retail tech. In GenAI-led creative, Laqshya Media Limited, Salt – Kotak and Sumimoto each secured silver, reflecting the crowded race in generative creativity.
Publicis bagged silver in influencer management and gold in performance marketing, where it shared the stage with Arm Worldwide and The Trade Desk, both silver. Glad U Came Private Limited stood out with gold in influencer measurement and analytics.
Marketing automation saw CereOne Media Pvt. Ltd. and Globale Media win silver, while ADMOTT Private Limited claimed silver in OTT innovation.
Programmatic media categories highlighted the shift to advanced targeting and connected screens. Mobavenue Media Private Limited clinched gold in connected TV advertising, with Animmoov Digital Media Pvt Ltd – Asus and Lyxel and Flamingo taking silver. Cheggout Services Private Limited won silver in retail media advertising, while Paytm Ads – Versuni secured gold.
On social platforms, Vayner Media India took gold in community and UGC engagement, with Under 25 – Oppo winning silver. Segumento rounded off the list with silver in the innovation category.
Jaswant Singh, country managing director at ad:tech India, underscored the momentum, saying generative AI and data-driven decision-making are now central to marketing impact. Neena Dasgupta, IAA mancom member and chief executive and founder at The Salt Inc Consulting, added that the awards celebrate not just technology, but “the people, the creativity, and the relentless effort behind it.”
Backed by Comexposium Group, ad:tech New Delhi has long tracked digital disruption. Now, with the honours, it is rewarding those who are not just adapting to change but engineering it.
In an industry racing towards automation, the message from 2026 is unmistakable. The future of marketing will be written not just in ideas, but in algorithms.
