MAM
Ant Farm launches ad venture Fork Media
MUMBAI: Ant Farm, an innovative sandbox that aims to create global brands ideated and built out of India, has announced the launch of its first venture in the advertising space, Fork Media.
Founded by Samar Verma and Upen Roop Rai, both of whom recently stepped down from leadership positions at the Times Group, Fork Media offers advertisers innovative content-led marketing solutions, high engagement ad formats and exclusive access to the country‘s leading publishers across the online, mobile and video platforms.
“Our constant feedback from advertisers is that the typical ad formats prevalent on the web and mobile today are flawed. Users tend to tune out advertising; as a result click-through rates and engagement are trending downwards. We saw this as a great opportunity to create seamless, brand-led content propositions that give advertisers longer-term engagement with their target audience,” said Verma.
Roop Rai added, “There is a genuine need to address challenges such as low benchmarks set on pricing, lack of innovation and broken ad formats. This is an exciting proposition for both the publisher for driving optimal revenue levels and the advertiser for creating longer-term engagement with its target consumer group. Our aim is to create meaningful, conversation-based advertising for premium brands. We have seen tremendous success in the past in creating synergies between brands and content, and we want to extend that philosophy at Fork.”
According to the company, Fork puts the brand before measurability and has created a unique index that helps advertisers reach out to their intended audience via the right publisher collaboration. It focuses on alternative revenue streams that can run parallel to the publisher‘s existing monetization efforts. Further, Fork‘s core proposition is the content marketing arm THINKTANK, which is the network‘s in-house ideation, content creation and design cell. Fork‘s biggest asset, besides its people, is its rapid execution and deployment ability across content and formats.
The current roster of publishers onboard the Fork platform includes HT Media, The India Today Group, The Hindu, and The Daily Mail.
“When Samar first approached us with the Idea of Fork Media we immediately saw the potential. He has had one of the fastest growths in the online industry largely due to his disruptive ideas and aggressive approach to monetization. We are excited with the traction Fork has managed to gain in such a short period of time. It‘s a winning proposition for any publisher or brand,” Antfarm MD Rishi Khiani said.
Brands
Kingfisher signs three-year IPL partnership
Packaged water brand signs on as ‘good times partner’ for 2026–28 cycle
MUMBAI: Kingfisher Premium Packaged Drinking Water is betting big on cricket’s biggest stage, sealing a three-year partnership with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to sharpen fan engagement at the TATA Indian Premier League.
The brand, owned by United Breweries, will serve as the official “good times partner” for the men’s IPL from 2026 to 2028, extending a relationship that began with the Women’s Premier League. The move signals a broader push to embed itself deeper into live sport, with a focus on immersive, consumer-led experiences rather than conventional sponsorship visibility.
At the heart of the tie-up is a suite of fan-first activations spanning broadcast, stadiums and digital channels. These include the “Kingfisher Bird Cam”, offering a branded spider-cam perspective during live matches, and the “Good Times Zone”, an in-stadium entertainment hub during play-offs aimed at amplifying match-day buzz. The brand will also back IPL fan parks, elevate public screening experiences and run digital contests tied to key moments through the season.
Vikram Bahl, chief marketing officer, United Breweries, said cricket in India “is more than a sport, it is a shared cultural moment”, adding that the IPL brings that energy alive at scale. “For Kingfisher Premium Packaged Drinking Water, being present at the heart of these moments, in partnership with the BCCI, is a natural extension of what we stand for. Through this association, we aim to enrich how fans experience the game… making every match more immersive, social and memorable,” Bahl said.
Devajit Saikia, honorary secretary, BCCI, said the IPL “has always been at the forefront of redefining sports entertainment and fan engagement”. He added that the collaboration would fuse cricket fandom with “innovative fan experiences that extend beyond the stadium”, helping create memorable moments for audiences nationwide.
For United Breweries, part of the HEINEKEN group, the play is clear: move from passive branding to active participation in the fan journey—on screens, in stands and across social spaces. With millions tuning in and turning up each season, the IPL remains the country’s most potent marketing theatre. The question now is whether “good times” can translate into lasting brand recall in a market where visibility is easy, but engagement is hard-won.
