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Swathi Iyer

Creative Director, Brand Strategist, Author

I’ve spent 14 years chasing ideas.Some loud. Some lyrical. All rooted in strategy and built to move people.My journey began in science labs and found its way into storytelling—through research, curiosity, and a steady fascination with how people think, feel, and decide. That path shaped the way I work: equal parts rigour and imagination, insight and instinct.Over the years, I’ve worked across fashion, skincare, finance, tech, healthcare, and impact. Each category taught me something different. How to find clarity in chaos. How to build brands with empathy. How to tell stories that drive business, but stay human at the core.I’ve led teams, built brands from scratch, guided rebrands, mentored writers, grown platforms, and partnered closely with founders. What I care about most is helping brands understand who they are—and showing up consistently, meaningfully, and with purpose.I believe good work doesn’t shout.It listens.It notices.It earns attention by being honest and well-crafted.

What I bring to the table

Building brands into entities people love, and into entities that anchor communities

Brand stories that move the needle for the business, and linger beyond the brief

Campaign ideas that travel from strategy to culture

A lifelong love for language, and a precise ear for voice

Thoughtful, integrated content across digital, offline, and mixed realities

Brand intuition grounded in results, not vanity metrics

Building teams, mentoring talent, and working generously across functions

Cultural awareness, narrative depth, and the patience to finish what I start

Conceptualized and created cool teasers for our season agnostic (summer) campaign.

Launched the season agnostic (summer) collection through a fun campaign wherein I conceptualized 8 videos, directed the videos at a shoot in Goa, planned the campaign spread for the quarter, created the content calendar, wrote the content, art directed with my art partner and editor, and we are now successfully running this rather fun looking campaign. The collection has been thus launched in a bold and fun manner.

The Lit Series: Cross category influencer content

The Lit Series” was a bold step towards redefining consumer engagement through innovative digital content. In a game-changing move for the fashion industry, we teamed up with a diverse mix of influencers, including MJ5, the country’s leading dance troupe, Elli Avram, a fashion and travel icon, and Aakash Gupta, a celebrated stand-up comedian to create exceptional content for the said content series. I scripted the content after cracking the idea, and worked very closely with aakash Gupta to finalize the videos, with final inputs from the client team of course. We blew this up into a fun campaign on social media. The series gave us incredible results, boosting the brand's reach by 72% and driving a 25% increase in engagement across platforms.

The Lit Series

"The Lit Series” was a bold step towards redefining consumer engagement through innovative digital content. In a game-changing move for the fashion industry, we teamed up with a diverse mix of influencers, including MJ5, the country’s leading dance troupe, Elli Avram, a fashion and travel icon, and Aakash Gupta, a celebrated stand-up comedian to create exceptional content for the said content series. I scripted the content after cracking the idea, and worked very closely with aakash Gupta to finalize the videos, with final inputs from the client team of course. We blew this up into a fun campaign on social media. The series gave us incredible results, boosting the brand's reach by 72% and driving a 25% increase in engagement across platforms.

Enticing fashion shoots every quarter

Fashion retail brand is a different animal. Every quarter, I worked with the client on understanding fashion trends, figuring out the collection, planning the look & feel for every collection and the corresponding campaigns, fixing new narratives for the brand, exploring new creative avenues in every fashion shoot, and helping market the brand to the TG in a succeful and enticing manner.

Future ko majboot rakhneka Futuresutra with Futurika: for Udaan, a USAID-funded social initiative.

Cracked the communication messaging, go-to-market strategy and the launch campaign, including two powerful engaging films to launch the social-impact initiative called Udaan in the market. Udaan Collaborative is USAID-backed initiative geared towards promoting sexual health, family planning and well being in the youth of India. The ask was to enable, engage, and educate India’s vulnerable populations with communication focused on improving sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and resilience. The platform also involves onboarding
physicians, pharmacists, and corporate entities which called for a three-pronged communication strategy. While the brand now looks for funders to keep the initiative going, the the campaign attempts to lay the groundwork for their social impact goals.

This particular film deals with the problem of lack of safe spaces to look for help during instances like unwanted pregnancy, missed periods and related issues, leading to anxiety and unsafe choices.

Future ko majboot rakhneka Futuresutra with Futurika: for Udaan, a USAID-funded social initiative.

Cracked the communication messaging, go-to-market strategy and the launch campaign, including two powerful engaging films to launch the social-impact initiative called Udaan in the market. Udaan Collaborative is USAID-backed initiative geared towards promoting sexual health, family planning and well being in the youth of India. The ask was to enable, engage, and educate India’s vulnerable populations with communication focused on improving sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and resilience. The platform also involves onboarding
physicians, pharmacists, and corporate entities which called for a three-pronged communication strategy. While the brand now looks for funders to keep the initiative going, the the campaign attempts to lay the groundwork for their social impact goals.

This particular film deals with the problem of lack of privacy, the awkwardness and challenges of buying sexual health products from chemists in India, in tier 2, tier 3 cities and non-metro geographies.

Redefining Santoor: #YoungSoch

For decades, brand Santoor propagated the narrative of age-defying young skin, wherein young mothers who did not look their age played the protagonist. While this narrative worked well for the brand all these years, Santoor could not have made space in the hearts and minds of our burgeoning audience, the GenZ women, through this narrative.
That’s when a fresh strategic approach and a creative route under the “Young Soch” banner, was called for.

We donned our strategic creative hats and came up with four insights that challenge traditional beauty beliefs and attitudes held by previous generations, encouraging women to embrace their authentic selves, reject stereotypes, and celebrate beauty with substance. And we crafted slice of life, 20-second films based on these insights. That’s how the campaign, “Skin hoy a soch, stay young” was born. Santoor promises to help women keep their skin looking young while encouraging them to adopt progressive thinking in their lives, through this campaign. And we propagated this idea through thoughtfully crafted 20-second films featuring Genz characters.

Changing age old brand narratives: #YoungSoch

Building a new fanbase for the brand: #YoungSoch

Redefining the brand image: #YoungSoch

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My debut novel

The Grumpy Spine Diaries

A creative personnel by day and and author by night, that's how I like to describe myself now. After work, you will find me working on several ideas or typing away to glory, trying to write my next fiction work. The Grumpy Spine Diaries is my debut novella that was published in October 2024.. A light fun read. Here's a glimpse into the storyline of the book:

Niharika Menon had it all figured out—until her spine decided otherwise. What begins as a forced bedrest turns into a rollercoaster of hilarious misadventures, from dodging intrusive relatives to battling wild animals in her apartment. Armed with only her sharp wit and a virtual diary, Niharika discovers that when life forces you to slow down, it’s not just your body that heals, but your spirit too. The Grumpy Spine Diaries is a tale of resilience, humour, and unexpected growth that will keep you laughing, reflecting, and rooting for this irreverent character. Perfect for anyone who’s ever had life throw them a curveball and wondered if they could turn it into a home run.

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