MAM
Fan2Play announces two-time CPL champions Barbados Royals as associate sponsor for 2022 season
Mumbai: Fantasy sports platforms Fan2Play has announced its partnership with the men’s team of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise Barbados Royals for the current season of the tournament. It got underway on 31 August in St. Kitts.
Fan2Play’s logo will appear on the non-leading arm of the Barbados Royals’ men’s official jerseys and training kits for the duration of the tournament as the team’s associate sponsor for this year’s edition.
Fan2Play said that it has rapidly established itself as a key partner to teams in multiple marquee cricketing tournaments across the globe. This includes CPL 2021 champions St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and the World Giants in the inaugural edition of Legends League Cricket (LLC) at the start of 2022.
As two-time champions of the CPL—lifting the cup in the 2013 and 2019 editions—the Barbados Royals are perfectly poised to continue this winning streak. This year’s men’s team will be led by veteran South African all-rounder David Miller and showcase a strong line-up of international and local talent, including Quinton de Kock, Jason Holder, and Obed McCoy. Through its association with a team of this stature, Fan2Play further strengthens its reputation for partnering with the biggest names in cricket.
“We are glad to be associated with Barbados Royals in this season’s CPL T20 League as we firmly believe they have the most balanced team and are one of the favourites to lift the trophy. In the past, Fan2Play has been associated with four different franchises, and they have all gone on to win in those respective seasons. We truly hope we can be Barbados Royals’ lucky charm as well,” said Fan2Play co-founder and GM operations Kumar Shashi.
“Participation of such grandeur is about showing Fan2Play’s presence among the elite of T20 cricket and connecting with our users and followers through such activation. We will be hosting some incredible moments with the Barbados Royals franchise this season, so join Fan2Play and be part of this exciting journey,” he added.
Now in its 10th season, the CPL is popularly referred to as the ‘Biggest Party in Sport’. Having started off on 31 August, the final of this year’s tournament will be played a month later on 30 September.
Rajasthan Royals, Barbados Royals GM-partnerships Uditvanu Das commented, “At the Barbados Royals, we are always very keen to explore avenues which can provide our fans with an all-round entertaining experience, not just on the field, but off it as well. Hence, we are delighted to welcome Fan2Play, a platform that engages fans and also rewards them for their participation, as a partner of the franchise.”
Fan2Play is a fantasy platform where you can create your own fantasy teams with just 2/3/4 players. Fan2Play’s new user offer of claiming a 200 per cent bonus up to Rs 20,000 is incredible as it gives you unlimited bonus usage on multiple contests. Other features include Real Cash deposit codes, Challenge Fantasy, 2nd Innings Fantasy, and Casual Games.
Brands
GUEST COLUMN: Beyond layoffs, India emerges as creative-tech hub
Shift in hiring and AI-led workflows is reshaping global media and marketing
MUMBAI:The global narrative around layoffs in media and technology may suggest contraction, but a deeper transformation is reshaping how creative and tech capabilities are built and deployed. For Sanjil Zaveri, general manager – India at Brandtech+, this shift is less about decline and more about redistribution, one that is positioning India at the centre of a new global operating model. In this piece, Zaveri explores how integrated workflows, AI-powered production, and evolving talent demands are redefining the creative-tech ecosystem, why India is emerging as a strategic hub for global content and innovation, and what this means for the future of media, marketing, and talent.
The global headlines around layoffs in technology and media continue to dominate industry conversations. From platform restructuring to reduced marketing spends, the narrative suggests a slowdown across the creative and digital ecosystem.
But beneath these headlines, a different shift is underway, one that is quietly redefining how creative and technology work is delivered globally.
Hiring is not disappearing; it is being redistributed. And India is increasingly at the centre of this transition.
A structural shift in the creative-tech ecosystem
The media and marketing landscape is undergoing a fundamental reset. Brands today are moving away from fragmented agency models and siloed teams toward more integrated, agile structures.
Creative, technology, and media are no longer operating in isolation. Campaigns are now built through connected workflows, where ideation, production, and optimisation happen simultaneously.
This shift is forcing organisations to rethink where and how teams are built. Increasingly, the focus is on capability, speed, and scalability, rather than geography alone.
India’s emergence as a creative-tech hub
India’s role in this evolving ecosystem has expanded significantly.
Traditionally positioned as a backend execution market, India is now playing a far more central role in global campaign delivery. Teams based here contribute not just to production, but also to strategy, content development, and performance optimisation.
This is particularly relevant in a market where content velocity has increased dramatically. With the rise of digital platforms, OTT, and always-on marketing, brands require high volumes of creative assets without compromising on quality.
Industry insights from Ernst & Young point to India’s growing strength as a global content hub, while NASSCOM continues to highlight the scale and depth of the country’s digital talent pool. Together, these factors create a compelling case for India as a foundation for more efficient, integrated content ecosystems serving global markets.
A global company’s perspective on India
At Brandtech+, this shift is already shaping how we operate.
As a global organisation working across creative, marketing, and technology, our talent strategy is increasingly driven by capability rather than location. India has therefore become a key market for both scale and strategic talent.
In the first quarter of this year, we have significantly accelerated hiring in India across creative, technology, and operations roles, moving well ahead of plan and continuing to build strong momentum. We are actively hiring across multiple functions, with India playing a central role in delivering integrated creativetech solutions for global brands.
These signals reflect a broader change in how global companies view India, not as a delivery centre, but as a hub for connected creative, data, and technology capabilities.
“While much of the global narrative is centred on contraction, what we are seeing in India is a different kind of growth,” says Sanjil Zaveri. “As a global company, we are investing in talent that can work across creative, data, and technology, because that is where the future of marketing is headed.”
AI and the new content economy
Artificial intelligence is playing a critical role in enabling this transformation.
In today’s media environment, the demand for content has scaled exponentially. Brands are expected to create, adapt, and optimise creative assets across multiple platforms in real time. The scale of this demand would be difficult to sustain through traditional production models alone.
AI is helping make this possible.
Rather than replacing roles, AI is streamlining workflows, automating repetitive tasks, accelerating production timelines, and enabling faster experimentation. This allows creative and strategy teams to focus on higher-value outputs.
“AI removes the mundane and elevates the meaningful,” says Zaveri. “It allows teams to focus on ideas and storytelling, while technology drives efficiency.”
For media platforms and advertisers, this is redefining how campaigns are built, moving from linear production cycles to continuous, data-driven content creation.
What this means for media talent
For professionals across media, advertising, and digital, this shift is redefining skill requirements.
The traditional boundaries between creative, media planning, and technology are blurring. Content creators are expected to understand performance metrics. Media professionals are working more closely with data, platforms, and automation. Collaboration across disciplines is becoming a core skill.
This is creating demand for hybrid talent, professionals who can operate across disciplines and adapt to rapidly changing workflows.
India’s talent ecosystem is particularly well suited to this environment. With strong capabilities across content, design, engineering, and analytics, the market offers a unique combination of scale and versatility.
Importantly, global exposure is no longer tied to relocation. Professionals in India are increasingly working on international brands and campaigns, collaborating with teams across markets in real time.
Looking ahead: India at the centre of the reset
What we are witnessing today is not a temporary phase; it is a structural reset in the global creative-tech ecosystem.
Layoffs may continue to shape short-term narratives, but they do not capture where long-term growth is being built. That growth lies in new operating models, integrated workflows, and markets that can deliver both scale and innovation.
India is firmly at the centre of this transformation.
As global media and marketing organisations continue to evolve, India’s role will only become more critical, not as a support market, but as a strategic hub for content, creativity, and technology-led innovation.
The future of creative-tech will be defined by collaboration, speed, and adaptability. And increasingly, it will be shaped from India.
Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.
