Why $200M Brands Are Hiring Full-Time Influencers | TCP #20 w/ Manvi Shah

We’ve talked to a lot of creators. This time, we’re flipping the lens and getting a brand manager's POV.

In this episode, we sit down to decode how brands think, what content they’re really looking for, and why most creators completely miss the mark when pitching.

Subscribers at the time of upload: 500

We dive into:

Why most creators start for the wrong reasons
How marketing changed post-COVID (and why it’s not going back)
What a brand manager actually does
The right way to pitch (from the brand side)
Why legacy marketers are losing to creators
And what kind of content actually drives revenue and conversion

Especially useful if you’re a creator trying to land brand deals, or a marketer building in content-heavy categories like home, decor, D2C, or lifestyle.

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
02:01 – Why most creators fail at content strategy
08:43 – The creator vs marketer mindset: What brands really want
15:07 – From content to career: How to turn brand work into proof of work
21:58 – The pitch that works: What actually gets brand managers to reply
28:49 – The truth about branded content budgets and funnel thinking
36:22 – How HomeLane cracked video-led performance marketing
42:41 – Why "visualization" is non-negotiable in premium product marketing
49:30 – What failed in content: Behind HomeLane’s early YouTube misses
56:04 – The real role of last-mile offers and how Starbucks does it
01:03:58 – Where do brand budgets go? A marketer’s playbook revealed
01:07:33 – Why “Fast Forward” is building India’s first real marketer network
01:09:20 – What we learned building a community from scratch

Check the Guest out on socials:
Manvi's Linkedin:   / manvishah  
Fast forward Growth Youtube:    / @fastforwardgrowth  

Check us out on socials:
Subash's Linkedin:   / subash-kp-380309173  
Subash's Insta:   / subash_kp  
Subash's Twitter: https://x.com/Subashkp3

Aadil's Linkedin:   / aadilverma  
Aadil's YouTube:    / gyaancentral  
Aadil's: Twitter: https://x.com/aadilrverma
Aadil's Instagram:   / gyaan_central  

I make extensive notes from sources across the internet for my research, you can find here (from most episodes): https://glasp.co/aadil

Reach us at - [email protected]

Get our ultimate podcast planner Notion template here: https://www.notion.so/marketplace/tem...

#thecontentplaybook #tcp #subashpodcast #aadilpodcast