With experience across Disney Star, McKinsey, and Morgan Stanley, Anuja Trivedi, CMO, Shemaroo Entertainment brings a unique mix of creative instinct and strategic thinking to her role as chief marketing officer at Shemaroo Entertainment.

As the company pivots from a legacy B2B business to a culturally relevant D2C brand, Trivedi is spearheading efforts to blend nostalgia with modern storytelling.

In conversation with Manifest, in our July issue, she unpacked how Shemaroo is reimagining its identity for today’s fragmented media landscape, through data-led creativity, regional depth, and a clear focus on relevance over reach.

She started by pointing out that their content library is vast and incredible, but that they were clear that they didn’t want to be seen as just a 90s brand.

Trivedi explained that while Shemaroo owns a wealth of beloved legacy content, the challenge was to make it resonate with today’s audiences, especially Gen Z and younger millennials.

Instead of banking solely on nostalgia, the brand began repackaging classics in fresh formats across social platforms like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. She shared, “We used quick cuts, overlays, mashup formats, the younger viewer loves. That’s how we started building a new connection.”

Trivedi went on to highlight that they are a legacy brand entering D2C relatively recently.

"In many ways, it feels like we’re using our legacy to explore entirely new frontiers," she said.

The shift from B2B to D2C meant going back to the drawing board to define Shemaroo’s core audience and value proposition.

Trivedi likened the experience to building a startup within a legacy ecosystem, where the freedom to reinvent was matched by the responsibility of preserving brand heritage.

Trivedi is a firm believer in data-led creativity. She remarked, “I look at data first, then the consumer.”

She uses real-time campaign feedback like cost per view or subscriber acquisition to fine-tune strategy.

“But insight goes beyond numbers,” she added. “In entertainment, it’s still about surprise and delight. Data can guide, but creativity leads.”

This year, the company launched its Women’s Day campaign #HarRoleIsHerRole to address gender bias through a social experiment involving children.

The outcome wasn’t just a message - it was tangible action. “We wanted the Shemaroo brand to engage with larger cultural conversations. Hence, we created a new occupation chart with women in various roles and distributed it internally to begin change from within,” said Trivedi.

Shemaroo’s devotional content strategy is also evolving to stay relevant. Collaborations with contemporary artists like Shankar Mahadevan have brought new life to classics like the Hanuman Chalisa. “Today’s spiritual content can be upbeat, energetic, and still deeply rooted in tradition,” Trivedi noted.

With exclusive Gujarati titles and on-ground activations during Navratri, Shemaroo is going hyper-local. Trivedi explained, “We launched Jhamkudi from a Garba pandal. Our audience isn’t just online - they’re in cultural spaces, and we meet them there.”

Finally, Trivedi emphasised Shemaroo’s platform-agnostic philosophy. Whether through its own OTT app, FAST channels, or distribution partnerships with Netflix, Prime Video, or telecom providers, the goal is to have an audience reach with relevance. “We build affinity on D2C, but we also make great content easy to find, wherever viewers are," she noted.

Read the full chat in the July issue of Manifest. Get your copy here.