“The Godfather of Adsense” joins C1X!

Silicon Valley based advertising and marketing technology (AMT) leader- C1X (Class One Exchange) has roped in Gokul Rajaram as its advisor.

Gokul is often addressed as the “The Godfather of Adsense,” due to his key role in the early success of one of Google’s most profitable products. Since leaving Google in 2007, he has founded (and sold) his own startup, Chai Labs, led ad-product strategy at Facebook and, joined Square to help the San Francisco-based company revolutionize the world of commerce.

Commenting on the big news, Mukundu Kumaran, Founder and CEO C1X said, “Super excited to have Gokul join C1X advisor board. This validates our vision and differentiation in adtech and martech eco-system. Gokul is Adsense "Godfather". His inputs and guidance will make our product offerings much stronger, and his in-depth knowledge in adtech will help us to create unique offering with much higher value creation. His connection will help us to expand globally and get us to a multi-billion dollar company much faster.”

On the occasion Gokul affirmed that “I'm very excited to help the C1X team build an impactful product and company that transforms the world of advertising. I love C1X's mission to reduce waste and inefficiency from the entire advertising process. The integrated platform is a huge step towards that, and I'd like to constantly push C1X towards keeping the inspiring mission top of mind in every product and business decision.”

Gokul is the product engineering lead at Square, the commerce company based in San Francisco, CA, that offers local businesses a full suite of hardware and software tools, including the Square credit card reader for iPhone, iPad and Android devices, and Square Register, a full point-of-sale system.

Prior to Square, Gokul was product director of ads at Facebook. In that role, he drove the product road map and execution for Facebook’s advertising products, which account for the bulk of Facebook's revenues. Earlier, Gokul was product management director for Google AdSense. He helped conceive and crystallize the product in early 2003, and played a key role in its launch and growth from 2003 onwards into a multibillion dollar product line.

C1X is an independent Advertising and Marketing Technology (AMT) leader that helps brands and their agencies find difficult-to-source audiences directly and transparently from leading premium publishers. Its data-driven digital advertising platform facilitates a friction-free marketplace for both publishers and advertisers with easy to execute direct connections, delivering industry-leading visibility and view ability. The C1X Platform offers an Audience Guarantee approach to provide buyers and sellers smooth participation in private marketplaces without having to rely on Deal IDs.

Founded in 2014, C1X is a funded global corporation, headquartered in the Silicon Valley, with offices in New York, Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo, Mumbai, and New Delhi, and with development centers in San Jose, Chennai, and Bengaluru, find C1X online at www.c1exchange.com.

Pass Pass Pulse, the candy from DS Group that stormed the hard-boiled candy market with its launch in 2015 has rolled out its first TV commercial. Pulse Candy, with a tangy twist, makes it standout! It offers an experience that starts with a fruity taste and peaks with a tangy surprise. A mouth full of fun and peculiarity, the consumers love. This irresistible fervor for Pulse candy is extended to the brand communication, with a tag line of ‘Pran jaaye par Pulse na jaaye’, with quirky and humorous examples of how far people can go to save their favourite Pulse Candy. After all, one does not like to part with precious belongings.

The first TVC, conceptualized by J. Walter Thompson Company, is the master commercial that outlines the length to which people will go to hide their Pulse Candy and also the extent people will go to get their hands on a Pulse Candy.

The film opens on the protagonist who is asleep in his room – this is when his house mates, on a day off, decide to play a prank on him to get their hands on his Pulse stash. We suddenly see his roommate run in and wake him up, screaming that the house in on fire. The protagonist, in a blurred sleepy state on seeing smote and sparks, actually assumes that the house is on fire, as he sees his friends running to collect their precious belongings. This is when our guy springs to action, rushing to save his hidden Pulse Candies; from inside a remote, the one hidden in a DVD drive, to some, hidden in a trumpet. Once he has managed to get his hand on the stash, he rushes out. That’s when the plot unravels, a well-crafted ploy that has his friends creating the fire and smoke, amongst others. At the end, the plot succeeds and he has to give up his hidden stash of candies, but not until he manages to keep one for himself. The commercial ends with the tag line that says - ‘Pran jaaye par Pulse na jaaye’

Speaking on the brand, Mr. Shashank Surana, VP, New Product Development, DS Group said, “Pass Pass Pulse has been a category disruptor and was an instant hit with the consumers across age groups since its launch. Thus, the idea was to create a campaign, which can reiterate the love of consumers for the Pulse candies. The TVC beautifully showcases this emotion, demonstrating the popularity of the candy .With the launch of this humorous TVC, our endeavor is to take the brand’s popularity to the next level and further strengthen the consumer connect.’’

Shujoy Dutta, Vice President & Executive Planning Director, J. Walter Thompson Company said “It’s well known that candy is an impulse purchase and normally we would assume that this would appeal to the children. But when we were commissioned to work on the brand we discovered that the appeal of the candy spanned all age groups. Consumers enjoyed it so much that they were also buying them in jars – and during the development of the campaign we heard that the demand outstripped the supply and it became difficult to get your hands on the candy.”

Speaking about the TV commercial, Sundeep Sehgal and Siddharth Prasad (Executive Creative Directors, J. Walter Thompson Company) said “The challenge of working on a candy campaign is that the category has already seen a large volume of work and expectations from candy advertising are high. We were looking for a unique, fresh take that would give people yet another reason to love Pulse. We noticed that people in office wouldn’t keep Pulse on their tables, but in a drawer or behind a book or something. A little game of hide and seek was playing out right in front of us, and that’s where the campaign idea came from.” Commenting on the line ‘Pran Jaaye, Par Pulse Na Jaaye’ they said “it’s a quirky reflection of how people protect their Pulse candy.”

Pulse Candy is a case study in itself. A brand that was first launched in 2015, has redefined the candy category, literally. Differentiation in terms of the flavour combination and innovation of being more than just a regular candy has worked in its favour. Pulse is a combination of loved & exceptional fruit flavours like Kaccha Aam, Guava &Orange combined with a tangy core that’s driving consumers to love it so much. A taste that is so irresistible, that it has consumers wanting more; the essence, which the new commercial captures.

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Creative Credits
Campaign elements: TVC/Digital/ Outdoor/Radio/BTL activations
Client: DharampalSatyapal Ltd `
Director (of the film): Rajesh Krishnan
Production House: Soda Films
Creative Agency: J. Walter Thompson Company
Account management:
1.Sr. Vice President & Executive Business Director: Subho Sengupta
2.Associate Vice President: Mukund Raina
3.Account Manager: Naman Joshi
Planning:
1.Vice President & Execute Planning Director: Shujoy Dutta
2.Planning Director: Debasish Das
Creative Team:
1.Executive Creative Directors: Siddharth Prasad, Sundeep Sehgal
2.Creative Director: Gresha Sengupta

Dentsu Media has been awarded the media planning & buying for the entire portfolio of brands for Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL). The mandate starts in April and was finalized following a multi-agency pitch earlier this year. MSIL is by far the largest automobile company in India and is amongst the top 3 advertisers in the country.

Dentsu Media will handle all media duties for Maruti Suzuki Corporate, Existing Channel & Nexa brands. A significant team comprising existing Dentsu Media members & handpicked experienced talent has been put together to handle this massive mandate. The scope of this mandate is a holistic integrated media & platform agnostic communications approach.

Dentsu Impact & Isobar, the other arms of the Dentsu Aegis Network already handle large portions of the creative, digital & CRM business. With this win, Dentsu Aegis Network has further consolidated its position as one of the leading integrated marketing communication companies in India.

Speaking on the development, Sanjeev Handa, Vice President, Marketing Maruti Suzuki India, said, “Our partnership with Dentsu Aegis Network is a strategic one. We wanted to have an integrated and synergistic approach for our business to improve productivity and overall effectiveness. And with alignment of media services to Dentsu Aegis Network, we are looking forward to improving our overall marketing efficiencies”.

Speaking on the win, Divya Karani, CEO, Dentsu Media, said, “We are delighted and honored to be chosen as the preferred media partners for MSIL, a clear market leader in the category and one of the most exciting and innovative marketers in the country. We have put together a very experienced and balanced team of media, advertising & marketing professionals who will leverage our global capabilities, tools and resources to help MSIL further enhance its market leadership. We are truly excited about this win.”

New York Festivals International Advertising Awards® announced the 2017 Finalists for the following competitions from entries submitted from 57 countries: Activation/Engagement, Avant-Garde/Innovative, Branded Entertainment, Best Use of Media, Design, Digital, Direct & Collateral, Film-Cinema/Online/TV, Film Craft, Integrated /Mixed Media, Mobile, Outdoor/Out of Home, Print, Public Service Announcements and Student.

Creative Marketing Effectiveness, Public & Media Relations, Package & Product Design and Audio are judged by a panel of prominent industry experts recruited from those respective fields. To view all current Finalists please visit: HERE.

The 2017 Grand Jury comprised of 300+ Creative Directors, Executive Creative Directors and worldwide Chief Creative Officers from 40 countries around the globe determined the Finalists through an online judging session and a live collateral judging session.

All Finalist entries progressed to the live judging round with the 2017 Executive Jury. This elite group of global chief creative officers and executive creative directors convened in New York City April 6- 10th to judge all mediums through five rounds of judging and select the World’s Best Advertising® Third Prize, Second Prize, First Prize, Grand Prize Award and Best of Show award-winning entries. All Film Craft Finalists were judged on April 8 by the inaugural Film Craft Executive Jury, headed by Angus Kneale, CCO at The Mill, and comprised of respected film industry experts dedicated to the quality and aesthetics of the film making process. All trophy winners will be announced live at the New York Show.

New York Festivals recognizes exceptional contributions by individuals and companies within the international advertising community. In addition to Best of Show, Global Brand of the Year, Global Agency Network of the Year, Regional Agency of the Year, and Best New Agency of the Year, special awards include: Boutique Agency of the Year, Independent Agency of the Year, and Best Commercial Film Director.

The 2017 New York Show℠ will take place on May 18th. The annual New York Show kicks off with four creative panel sessions that will take place during the day at the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway, located at 1871 Broadway (btw 61st & 62nd Street. The annual awards ceremony and gala will be held that evening at the world-class performance space, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, New York City. The evening begins with a cocktail reception in the Ertegun Atrium, followed by the awards ceremony in Rose Theater. A celebratory after-party will be held at the Ascent Lounge, on the 4th floor of Time Warner Center, to toast all the winners of the World’s Best Advertising.

New York Festivals International Advertising Awards® announced the formation of the inaugural Film Craft Executive Jury. For the first time in the history of NYF’s elite Executive Jury, a new Executive Jury panel exclusively devoted to judging Film Craft will assemble in New York City on April 8th during the week of the Executive Jury judging sessions.

The newly unveiled panel, comprised of 10 of the most respected film industry experts, will be chaired by the award-winning innovative creative and technical special effects influencer, Angus Kneale, Chief Creative Officer of The Mill.

“The announcement of NYF’s Film Craft Executive Jury, and the appointment of a Jury Chairman the caliber of Angus Kneale, insures that entries into the Film Craft competition will be evaluated according to the quality of the execution and based on the discerning standards of some of the most creative, technically advanced, and award-winning filmmakers that the industry has to offer,” said Michael Demetriades, Executive Director of New York Festivals. “NYF’s juries have been attracting the best creative minds worldwide, we are proud to announce the Film Craft Jury will offer the same for the Production Community. This esteemed jury will come together to curate a body of film work that is representative of unparalleled creativity and worthy of being called the World’s Best Advertising.”

Angus Kneale, Chief Creative Officer, The Mill said, “The celebration of craft, creativity and innovation within our industry is so important. New York is a real hub of creativity within the advertising industry, and as a New Yorker for over 15 years now, I'm excited to be partnering with the team of judges at the New York Festivals International Advertising Awards to champion award winning film-makers across the globe.”

Angus Kneale brings both creativity and leadership skills to his role as Jury Chairman, with over 3 decades of extraordinary effects-intense experience, working on high-end projects for international brands. Angus is particularly active in pushing the boundaries of emerging technology, innovation and creativity. He is one of the chief architects of the revolutionary Mill BLACKBIRD®, the world’s first virtual car. He is also one of the pioneering forces in the development of Mill Cyclops™, The Mill’s next generation proprietary virtual production toolkit.

Angus helped launch The Mill New York in 2002, and is part of The Mill's Group Executive Board helping set creative strategy for the entire business He has been awarded a wide range of accolades, including VES awards, gold Cannes Lions for both creativity and innovation and multiple D&AD awards. Having overseen many of The Mill’s most highly acclaimed projects, Angus’s leadership has helped propel the Mill to be one of the most awarded and admired studios in the world.

Angus Kneale will convene the Film Craft Executive Jury this April during the 7th annual Executive Jury judging sessions taking place in New York City. This jury of creative global minds dedicated to the quality and aesthetics of the film making process will review all shortlisted Film Craft entries selected by NYF’s online Grand Jury.

The 2017 New York Show℠ creative panel sessions and networking events will take place on Thursday May 18th at the NYIT Auditorium, 1871 Broadway, between 61st & 62nd Street. The annual New York Show awards ceremony and gala will be held that evening at the world-class performance space, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, New York City.