MAM
Pocket Aces unveils talent management division Clout
KOLKATA: Pocket Aces, India’s leading digital entertainment company, unveiled new branding for its talent management division, labeling it “Clout”.Clout, which means the ability to influence, will focus on exclusively representing the digital industry’s finest and most popular faces.
It will be responsible for offering comprehensive and fully integrated services, facilitating social media growth, IP creation, branded content and endorsements, PR and events, training across various skillsets, casting across all touchpoints including films, web series and TVCs. The team will also act as mentors and sounding boards for important career decisions in the fast-evolving media landscape. Exclusive talent will also have dedicated business managers to ensure high quality, high touch engagement.
Clout’s roster currently boasts of 50+ exclusive talents including popular faces like Barkha Singh, Ayush Mehra, Ahsaas Channa, Komal Pandey, Yashaswini Dayama, Viraj Ghelani, Kriti Vij, Pranay Manchanda, Vrushika Mehta, Disha Madan, in addition to 100+ non-exclusive talentClout has executed successful campaigns for brands like UberEats, Amazon Pay, Swarovski, Revv Cars, Hotstar, and Prime Video, Bumble, Aditya Birla Investing, to name a few. The wing has also played a pivotal role in casting talented actors like Akashdeep Arora in the movie Uri, Rohan Khurana in Thappad, Sukant Goel in Ghost Stories among many others.
Pocket Aces has a massive advantage compared to other talent management companies – they know how to build brands on digital, they have their own channels platforms to give the talent unparalleled visibility, and have a global footprint that the talent can leverage.
Speaking on the unveiling, Pocket Aces co-founder Aditi Shrivastava said, “We are thrilled to add Clout, another strong media brand, to our kitty. Ever since our inception, Pocket Aces has been discovering and giving a growth path to talented actors and creators via our own channels, as well as via our strong partnerships with brands and OTT platforms. Now with the creation of Clout, we are excited to formally spur the growth of this talent, build their individual brands, and give them visibility at a global level. In just a few months, we’ve built an extremely strong and passionate team, and are well on our way to becoming the #1 talent managers in the digital landscape.”
Clout co-lead Juhi Singh shared, “We’ve built out our talent wing with great care and aim to build a well-balanced pool of talent to represent. By focusing on casting or brand associations for talent most suited to their profile, we look forward to creating opportunities that will bring them in the forefront of some great shows, series, films and brands. From the casting viewpoint, many avenues are opening up where digital talent is front lining shows and films. Scoping these out for our talent is our primary objective and in order to achieve this, we are constantly working with industry’s leading producers, directors and casting agencies.”
Commenting on this announcement, Clout co-lead Vinay Pillai added, “Being a pioneer of creating original and noteworthy content, we see tremendous potential in Clout providing talented creators and actors a strong medium to collaborate with leading brands. We truly believe that our country is home for some outstanding talent and Clout will help them get the right opportunities at the right time. We have been successful with striking collaborations like Gillette Venus and we look forward to many more. We also plan to introduce workshops for our digital influencers in the near future. Having pioneered branded content on digital, we are excited to expand this out to creators we work with and further strengthen our partnerships with reputed brands.”
MAM
Toyota appoints Kenta Kon as President & CEO
New leader to steer EV push and global innovation amid industry shift.
MUMBAI: Toyota just handed the keys to a new driver because when the road to electric mobility gets twisty, you need someone who knows how to accelerate without skidding. Toyota Motor Corporation has named Kenta Kon as its new president and chief executive officer, a key leadership transition as the Japanese giant doubles down on its transformation in the fast-evolving global automotive landscape.
Kon brings deep expertise in automotive innovation, business strategy, and operational leadership to the top job. His appointment signals Toyota’s intent to sharpen focus on accelerating electric mobility, strengthening worldwide operations, and pushing customer-centric breakthroughs in next-generation technologies.
The company is betting on Kon to guide it through the industry’s pivotal shift toward sustainability, digital integration, and smarter mobility solutions. Key priorities under his watch include ramping up electric and hybrid lineups, expanding global market reach, driving cutting-edge automotive R&D, tightening supply-chain efficiency, and scaling connected and intelligent vehicle ecosystems.
This move comes at a time when legacy automakers face intense pressure to balance heritage strengths with aggressive electrification timelines and software-defined vehicle demands. Toyota aims to reinforce its position as a leader in sustainable, reliable, and future-ready mobility while navigating competitive challenges from both traditional rivals and new-age EV players.
For a brand that’s long defined durability and innovation, Kon’s elevation isn’t just a title change, it’s Toyota flooring it toward the next lap, ready to turn today’s tech talk into tomorrow’s showroom reality.
