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.”
Brands
Uidai partners with Google to help users locate Aadhaar centres
Verified Aadhaar centres to appear on Maps with services and access info
MUMBAI: Finding an Aadhaar centre may soon be as easy as finding your favourite café. In a move aimed at making public services more accessible, the Unique Identification Authority of India has partnered with Google to display authorised Aadhaar centres on Google Maps. The feature, expected to roll out in the coming months, will allow residents to locate verified centres quickly and confidently.
More than 60,000 Aadhaar centres, including state of the art Aadhaar Seva Kendras, will be mapped. When users search on Google Maps, they will be directed to authorised facilities rather than unverified listings, helping curb misinformation and confusion.
The listings will do more than drop a pin. Users will be able to see the nature of services offered at each centre, whether it is adult enrolment, child enrolment, or limited to address and mobile number updates. Details such as operating hours, parking availability and divyang friendly infrastructure will also be shown wherever applicable.
Uidai CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, said the collaboration is part of the authority’s continued effort to improve ease of living for Aadhaar holders by making authorised centres simpler and faster to navigate.
The partnership will deepen in its next phase, with Uidai using Google Business Profile to manage information and respond directly to public feedback. Looking ahead, the two organisations are also exploring the option of enabling appointment bookings through the Google Maps interface, potentially allowing residents to plan their visits with greater efficiency.
Google India country head, strategic partnerships Roli Agarwal, said integrating verified Aadhaar centres would help millions access trusted services with confidence, bringing essential government infrastructure closer to the people who need it most.
If all goes to plan, a routine Aadhaar update may soon begin not with a queue, but with a search bar.
