Sam Bahadur

Sam Bahadur, starring Vicky Kaushal, is a biographical war drama based on the life of India's first Field Marshal, Sam Manekshaw. As Manager, Brand & Content Marketing at ZEE5, I played a key role in developing the strategic positioning and integrated marketing campaign for the film's OTT premiere. I led the campaign narrative, content strategy, and cross-functional marketing plan across paid, owned, and earned channels, ensuring a cohesive launch that maximized awareness, engagement, and subscriber acquisition throughout the release lifecycle.

Build anticipation ahead of the OTT premiere, position Sam Bahadur as a marquee content release on ZEE5, develop a structured communication strategy across the campaign lifecycle, drive high-intent audiences to the platform and convert awareness into subscriber growth.

• Developed the campaign positioning and messaging framework
• Created the end-to-end campaign strategy deck
• Designed the phase-wise communication strategy across pre-launch, launch and post-launch
• Planned the content strategy and creative asset requirements for every phase
• Conceptualised celebrity-led creative ideas and byte concepts featuring Vicky Kaushal
• Collaborated with Brand, Creative, Performance Marketing, Product and agency partners

• Pre-launch: establish positioning, build anticipation and generate curiosity with celebrity-led content
• Launch: amplify the premiere across paid and owned channels using trailer and Vicky Kaushal assets
• Launch: drive users through video-first storytelling
• Post-launch: promote key scenes and celebrity moments while optimising creative formats

• Developed the complete campaign strategy presentation
• Planned communication across campaign phases and defined the creative asset roadmap
• Worked with creative teams and conceptualised Vicky Kaushal byte ideas
• Coordinated execution across stakeholders and supported optimisation

Integrated campaign executed across Paid, Owned and Earned channels

The OTT launch was driven through a coordinated marketing strategy that combined high-impact creative assets, platform merchandising, performance marketing, social media, CRM, PR, and talent-led amplification to maximize awareness, engagement, and subscriber acquisition.

Vicky Kaushal Byte Promo

As part of the OTT launch campaign for Sam Bahadur, we developed talent-led promotional assets featuring Vicky Kaushal to build anticipation around the premiere. These byte promos were strategically distributed across owned and social channels to strengthen the campaign narrative, increase audience engagement, and drive viewership for the film's streaming launch on ZEE5.

Nearly 2X subscriber acquisition, Sam Bahadur positioned as a marquee premiere on ZEE5, celebrity-led video-first storytelling leveraged across the funnel, and a structured phase-wise campaign executed end to end.

• Strong positioning creates consistency across every campaign surface
• Phase-wise planning sustains interest through the launch window
• Celebrity-led content strengthens audience intent
• Cross-functional collaboration drives execution
• The right creative mix enables subscriber acquisition