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Tag: Red Bull

  • MX Player, Red Bull & Smule hunt for India’s next rap superstar

    MX Player, Red Bull & Smule hunt for India’s next rap superstar

    MUMBAI: With the hip-hop scene in India fast evolving and artists from the country making their mark on the global stage, a new series gives the next generation of rappers a platform to learn from the best and hone their skills. An MX Original Series, Red Bull Spotlight, featuring beats from Smule’s hip hop music app AutoRap, is a nationwide hunt to discover and support India’s best emerging rappers, now streaming for free on MX Player.

    Started in 2019 as a platform to discover India’s newest rap talent, Red Bull Spotlight is now a six-part series that will see eight rappers go head-to-head for the title. The winner will receive the opportunity to record a full-length album in a professional studio, a music video, an EPK and more, selected following a finale judged by the biggest names in Indian hip-hop – Divine, Naezy, Emiway Bantai and Dee MC.  

    MX Player COO Vivek Jain said, “We’re delighted to have partnered with Red Bull and AutoRap to bring alive the biggest battleground for budding rap enthusiasts in India. This three-way partnership presents as the perfect harmony of brands coming together for a bespoke integration and digital first content solutions, that we’re able to weave into stories or formats that can appeal to our large user base.”

    Smule president Bill Bradford described Red Bull Spotlight as a launch pad for the next generation of hip hop talent in India. “We’re proud to provide the musical creation platform these rising stars can use to share their stories, and to serve as the backdrop of their art,” he added.      

    In the series, produced by Red Bull Media House and MX Player with Supari Studios and directed by Nisha Vasudevan, the finalists spend a week under the mentorship of some of the finest in Indian hip-hop, attending workshops and sessions, doing challenges and more. Mentors include Sofia Ashraf, Naezy, Dopeadelicz, Sez on the Beat, and D’evil.

    “I was pleasantly surprised by the wide-ranging talent in the finale. I think that says a lot about the selection process and also about the quality of talent waiting to be discovered and given a platform in India,” said hip-hop artist Divine, who was a judge at the finale. “Red Bull has been supporting music and culture in many different formats right from before I started as well and up to now. Spotlight is another endeavour in that long line of platforms given by them in helping talent get discovered and work towards building sustainable careers for them.”

  • Pocket Aces’ Loco, Red Bull tie-up to fuel esports’ growth in India

    Pocket Aces’ Loco, Red Bull tie-up to fuel esports’ growth in India

    MUMBAI: Loco and Red Bull announced an industry-defining esports partnership with a mission of transforming esports into popular culture. The partnership will see Red Bull and Loco working together to create and broadcast esports content across various game categories. 

    The partnership will kickstart with the live broadcast of the finale of the ongoing “Red Bull Flick” tournament on Loco. This popular CS GO (CounterStrike) tournament is designed to discover the most talented gamers in India and is set to take place on Saturday, 13 June. The Loco-Red Bull partnership will also cover events such as Red Bull M.E.O. (focuses on mobile arcade games like PUBG mobile) and Red Bull R1v1r Runes (focuses on Dota 2). The companies will work together to create additional events which will be announced soon.

    Indian Counter-Strike Pro and Red Bull India’s first gaming athlete Ankit 'V3nom' Panth said, “I am really happy to see such great participation in Red Bull Flick. I think we made all the six cups full within four days. This shows the passion of our community. I know we are going to see some great matches in the national finals on 13 June. Red Bull Flick is a great platform to showcase your aiming skills. India is known to have players with good aim but they find it difficult to make a team and compete. Red Bull Flick is a great initiative to help such gamers and put them out there. Additionally, I am equally excited to see Red Bull partner with an esports platform like Loco to broadcast the finals which definitely gives us access to one of the largest gaming communities in India.”

    Pocket Aces founder Anirudh Pandita said, “India’s gaming ecosystem continues to grow rapidly and gaming has now permeated the Indian consumer’s entertainment experience in a meaningful manner. Our mission as a company is to help consumers fight boredom and we are pleased to partner with Red Bull in our journey.  Red Bull has actively appreciated and promoted esports globally over the last few years and we hope to work with them to provide wings to the flight of the esports community.”

    The Red Bull-Loco association will not only offer a platform to aspiring gamers in India to showcase their talent but also fuel the growth of this industry; placing India on top of the global esports map. Recently, Loco partnered with Fnatic, a leading professional esports organization headquartered in London, United Kingdom for a PUBG Mobile charity tournament called #GamingForGood.

  • India’s Supari Studios’ video series – ‘Doppelgangers’ wins laurels at the 22nd Annual Webby Awards

    India’s Supari Studios’ video series – ‘Doppelgangers’ wins laurels at the 22nd Annual Webby Awards

    MUMBAI:  Supari Studios announced that its documentary series ‘Doppelgangers’ is the Winner of The Webby People’s Voice Award in Film & Video: Sports (Branded) at the 22nd Annual Webby Awards while competing with a crusade of other video series. Supari is the only Indian agency to win this prestigious award this year.

    The video was first selected after a 2,000-bench jury siphoned out the best out of millions of videos and then put up for a global People’s choice voting.  

    ‘Doppelgangers’ is a documentary series for Red Bull directed by Akshat Gupt. The series  explores the parallels that exist between famous international disciplines and ancient Indian art forms. As part of the series, international experts from the fields of motorcycle stunt riding, B-Boying, and bouldering, visit the worlds of ancient Indian art forms that align with their expertise. The international performers meet their counterparts in a first-time introduction to their doppelgangers. Through the course of the series, viewers not only witnessed certain similarities and understood the complexities and uniqueness of each sport but also learnt the sacrifices and passions of the athletes themselves.

    You can watch the series here – https://www.redbull.tv/show/AP-1TX9HWH492111/doppelgangers  

    Akshat Gupt, Director of the series and founder of Supari Studios adds, “It’s a mark of great distinction for all of us at Supari Studios to be awarded with the Internet’s biggest honor. It’s a testament to the hard work that the whole team put in for this series. There is great talent when it comes to creativity in India and we are happy that the world is now noticing that too.”

    Commenting on this win, Advait Gupt, Co-Founder, Supari Studios says, “Our focus on the digital domain has allowed us to try unique formats and engagement models. Having won the Webby’s while competing globally and being the only Indian brand in the category truly validates our mission of developing content that is recognized globally. We are certain that through the efforts of the teams at Supari Studios we will continue to create compelling campaigns. Our partnership with Red Bull has been nothing short of extraordinary – not only in terms of the nature of our engagement as a content studio, but also through the creative synergies and relationship that we have built with the entire team”.

  • Saavn hires former PepsiCo exec as vice president of entertainment and original content

    Saavn hires former PepsiCo exec as vice president of entertainment and original content

    MUMBAI: Saavan LLC’s music streaming app Saavan has roped in Gaurav Wadhwa as its vice president of entertainment and original content. Earlier, Wadhwa was senior marketing consultant at PepsiCo.

     

    Wadhwa will lead Saavn’s expansion into new genres through original programming. Based in Mumbai, Wadhwa will be looking over the generation of new content verticals, Saavn’s transformation into a comprehensive steaming service by developing the company’s sports, comedy, and other such channels. The company had announced in July that it planned to expand beyond mainstream music.  

     

    Wadhwa has experience of over 10 years in curating content for many global brands including Red Bull, MTV, Mountain Dew, and Pepsi. He has worked with MTV to develop music programming and brand solutions, has launched Red Bull in India through alternative sports, music, and culture marketing. He also launched Pepsi’s big cola innovation and spearheaded the Pepsi MTV Indies program.

     

    Saavn co-founder and executive chairman Paramdeep Singh said, “Gaurav’s award-winning experience, combined with his genuine passion for music, culture, and technology, makes him absolutely ideal to lead Saavn’s Music+ initiatives.”

     

    On his new role, Wadhwa said, “I am enormously excited to join Saavn and work with some of India’s most talented content creators and entertainment platforms to create a next generation media-tech brand. It’s not every day that you get to create a whole new category from scratch, but that’s the kind of incredible opportunity we have at Saavn.

  • Screwvala launches Unilazer Sports; ropes in Red Bull’s Supratik Sen as CEO

    Screwvala launches Unilazer Sports; ropes in Red Bull’s Supratik Sen as CEO

    MUMBAI: You can’t really get Ronnie Screwvala to sit still for long and avoid getting into businesses where he smells opportunity. With almost everyone investing in a big way in sports, he too has decided to board that train. The media and TV maven has set up Unilazer Sports as a division of Unilazer Ventures. And Supratik Sen, former Red Bull India national head for sports and events marketing, has been roped in as its CEO. Supratik has been mandated to focus on teams, leagues, academies as well as creating IPs and franchises in two or three selected sports.

     

    It was only last year that Ronnie exited from UTV by selling out his holdings to Disney, and since then he has been building up on Unilazer Ventures which is focused on creating ground up businesses and being a strategic equity investor in others. His investments range from agriculture, e-commerce, education, and micro housing initiatives. He has also set his sights on philanthropy.

     

    And now Ronnie has his eyes set on the exploding Indian sports business which is expected to see more than 30 per cent growth each year. Earlier this week Screwvala had in an interview to CNN-IBN’s Rajdeep Sardesai disclosed “that it is restlessness, the sense of being disruptive, challenging the status quo,”  which drives him even today.

     

    His CEO hire has real pedigree. Supratik is a an ex national rugby player, who was also a professionally trained footballer and cricket. The past five years of his life were spent at Red Bull India leading all its marquee projects with athletes, sports projects and events in the country. Before joining Red Bull, Supratik worked with Australian major Repucom. He has also worked with sports, event marketing and media management companies Procam, Percept D’Mark and E-Sense Entertainment. In all, he has over 15 years of work experience in sports marketing and talent management. His journey began in Future Hope India that works in grass root development of sport in eastern India.

     

  • Game4u launches its new property – ‘Game4u PlayPad’

    Game4u launches its new property – ‘Game4u PlayPad’

    MUMBAI: Game4u, the specialist retailer of videogame products and the retail arm of Milestone Interactive Group has launched its new property – ‘Game4u PlayPad’. The property which is parties for gamers will take place on a regular basis, where enthusiasts come together to enjoy the latest games. The first PlayPad Night took place on 15th February, 2014 in Mumbai, with a turnout of 45 casual gamers.

     

    Hosted by Game4u, the PlayPad gaming nights are designed with the objective of spreading the brand message of making gaming a primary medium of entertainment and recreation amongst the young adults. Game4u will host customized gaming parties, wherein a group of 20 gamers can come together at one place and play various single player or multiplayer games. The parties will be executed with specialized themes across different venues.

     

    For the PlayPad Nights, Game4u has got on board energy drink ‘Red Bull’ and ‘Debonairs Pizza’ as brand partners. Game4u will also be conducting an online and offline gaming competition to find out the most eligible gamer amongst all.

     

    Contests across social media will be held, where the fans get a chance to have a gaming party thrown at their place. As a part of giveaways, Game4u will be offering gaming merchandise, partner merchandise, Team Elite memberships, and discount coupons.

     

    Commenting on the launch of Game4u PlayPad, Mr. Jayont R Sharma, Chairman and CEO, Milestone Interactive Group said, “We are very excited to bring the Game4u PlayPad concept to our consumers. With this initiative we are looking to spread awareness about gaming and build an extensive gaming community across all age groups. We are hoping to interact with our consumers at a more personal level and are looking make gaming a cult phenomenon, like it is in some of the other countries.”

     

    He further added, “We are starting Game4u PlayPad with Mumbai and will soon take it to other cities in the coming months.”

     

    On partnering with Game4u, Mr. Yogesh Parekh, Director, Diwa Hospitalty said, “”Debonairs Pizza is sporty and targeted to the youth of India as much as families. We at Debonairs Pizza believe that pizza brings us together and is, in itself, a reason to celebrate with those we love by simply Tucking in! Gaming and sport also share the same vein of achievement and unity as Debonairs Pizza, hence the association with Game4u was a complete harmony!”