Pocket FM — Feb 2024 to March 2026
Creative Director — Shorts Pod (US & Hindi markets), Pocket TV vertical drama
Led short-form creative and distribution strategy for the international drama slate, then for Pocket TV's Hindi vertical-drama channel. Team of 5 video editors.
- Built and ran a 298-test creative testing programme measured on cost per 95%-completion — $8–25 per test, 24-hour window, unbranded Facebook distribution. Cost per deep view fell 40% across the programme, controlling for duration, show and genre. All 11 shows with 8+ tests improved individually. Method and data: read the full write-up.
- Audited our own 24-element creative checklist against those outcomes and found none of it predicted performance. Published the negative result rather than the framework.
- Pocket TV, June–October 2025 — 5.6 billion platform views, of which 1.87 billion organic:
- Facebook: 4.15B views · 766M three-second views · 176M one-minute views · 1.40B organic [Meta Business Suite, 20 Jun–31 Oct 2025]
- Instagram: 1.13B views · 107.6M reach · 14.9M content interactions · 206M organic [Meta Business Suite, 1 Jun–31 Oct 2025]
- YouTube: 269.8M views · 3.2M hours watch time [YouTube Studio, 1 Jun–31 Oct 2025]
- Grew Pocket TV's audience from a standing start in the same window: Instagram 50.7K to 306.5K followers, YouTube +265.6K subscribers to 372.7K, Facebook +3.1M net follows to 6.05M. [Platform analytics]
- Extended the tested-creative approach to Hindi-market shorts, cutting paid acquisition spend by using pre-validated assets in performance campaigns.
- Directed "Vashikaran" — a 13-minute AI-generated horror pilot, screenplay through motion visuals. Built the production stack (ChatGPT, Gemini, Leonardo, Runway, LTX, VEO3) and the workflow, then trained the editing team to run it.
- Originated the 60-second AI horror short format from HSM search-demand data; wrote the screenplays and built the business case that greenlit the visual adaptation.
Note on the numbers: the Meta figures above include paid distribution. The organic split is stated because it's the number that shows the creative worked rather than the budget.
Civic Studios — Jun 2022 to Jan 2024
Marketing Lead
Impact-focused production house. Owned launch and growth for the studio's original slate and its YouTube channel.
- Ran the launch campaign for "Ye Saali Naukri" (4-part series, dir. Kaviraj Singh). Grew the Pocket Change channel from 13,000 to 100,000 subscribers in two months, and to 250,000 by the time the channel was sold to Pocket Aces. Target of 1M views per episode met.
- Planned the launch for "Family Aaj Kal", including key art, posters, teasers and trailer. The show sold to SonyLIV for ₹50 lakh.
- Built the campaign for "Vakeel Babu" (starring Abhishek Banerjee), including a screening programme at TISS, NLU Delhi and Government Law College Mumbai — putting a film about gender sensitivity in the legal system in front of the people who'll run it. [Reviewed in The Leaflet and Film Companion]
- Rebuilt the Civic Studios brand identity — "Stories That Stay" — covering positioning, colour, type, website and content strategy.
- Ran influencer and partnership campaigns (Monk-E, RVCJ, We Are Yuva) on a bootstrapped budget.
- Credited on IMDb: View credit on IMDb ↗
Team: started solo with one intern; grew to two specialists (social/partnerships, on-ground execution).
MY FM (Dainik Bhaskar Group) — 2018 to 2022
Manager, Brand Solutions
Individual contributor role converting client briefs into sellable, multi-channel radio properties. Non-FCT revenue generation for the regional business.
- Designed integrated campaigns combining on-air promos, RJ-led content, digital and on-ground activation — the format that let the regional team sell ideas rather than airtime.
- Created Mahindra Kisan Mahotsav — a farmer-facing property built digital-first in September 2020, when physical agricultural events were impossible. Live-hosted by an RJ with agronomy experts, running on MY FM's YouTube and Facebook channels in the Rajasthan market. Mahindra Tractors title-sponsored it to drive XP PLUS sales, and renewed it — the clearest evidence a branded property works is that the sponsor comes back.
- Delivered campaigns for Colors, Sony TV, Star TV, SBI Life and MPCB, working with Mudra and Wavemaker.
- Ran the Fit India campaign with Fever FM and the Suniel Shetty team.
Scope: individual contributor role — no direct reports, but sole originator of the ideas the regional business sold.
Zee 24 Taas (Zee Media) — 2016 to 2018
Marketing Manager
Built branded IP for the Marathi news channel — properties the ad sales team could sell.
- Conceived and executed The Innovator Award end to end — a state-wide student innovation programme awarding funding across engineering, medicine and science. Brought in Abhyudaya Bank, Parag Milk and Navneet Yuva as sponsors, and the Maharashtra education minister as the headline attendee. New clients for a sales team that hadn't had them.
- Ran Ananya Sanman, the channel's flagship property, and Chala Kheluya Mangalagaur, a multi-city dance competition.
- Launched "Raha Ek Paul Pudhe" brand campaign, including the One-Minute Reporter citizen-journalism pilot.
Scope: individual contributor role.
Star India — 2013 to 2016
Marketing Executive, Network Marketing
Distribution-side marketing across the Star bouquet.
- Built TAM-data-driven activation planning, using weekly research to identify geographies where Star Plus trailed — then designing on-ground programmes for those markets specifically.
- Launched "Humara Gana" antakshari events across UP and Maharashtra to counter Zee's regional lead, including live Skype interactions between show artists and local audiences.
- Contributed to Project Alexander, the tier-2/3 market programme, running meet-and-greets with national and regional show leads.
- Negotiated cable-operator branding with Hathway — EPG placement and priority channel positioning.
- Executed the airport-media component of the Asli HD campaign with Tata Sky HD.
- Part of the on-ground crew for "Saath Hai Hum Uttarakhand", a 24-hour fundraising telethon, coordinating event collateral and on-site logistics.
DishTV India (Essel Group) — May 2011 to Dec 2012
Management Trainee → Marketing Executive, BTL
First role, out of campus. Retail visibility and activation for the Mumbai market during India's cable digitisation.
- Owned point-of-sale deployment across Mumbai retail and distribution — signage, in-shop displays, beat planning with merchandising agencies.
- Recruited, trained and managed in-shop demonstrators for modern trade (Vijay Sales, Reliance Digital, Sonimoni).
- Ran the "Dish Sawar Hai" brand launch through mall flash-mob activations, earning coverage on national news channels.
- Ran co-branded HD set-top-box placements in Mumbai pubs for first-hand product experience.
Capabilities
- Team leadership — led editing and marketing teams of 3–5; briefed and managed agencies, production houses and vendor teams throughout
- Content strategy — slate planning, format development, 0-to-1 launches, short-form architecture
- Growth systems — creative testing design, retention analysis, cost-per-outcome measurement, organic/paid mix at billion-view scale
- AI production — end-to-end generative pipelines for scripted short-form, team training
- Commercial — branded IP creation, sponsorship, integrated campaign design across on-air, digital and on-ground
Contact
shambharkar.nikhil@gmail.com · linkedin.com/in/nikhilshambharkar · Mumbai