Deepta Dixit · Culture & brand storytelling consultant
Strategic and cultural storytelling for brands and broadcasters, shaped by twenty years of building some very loved brands across India and the UAE.
Chapter I · Sound
Twenty years in radio taught me that audiences tell you everything, if you know how to listen. From Radio Mirchi in Mumbai to launching Kadak FM in Abu Dhabi, I learned to read signals long before we called it data.
Chapter II · Story
Signals are just noise until they become a story. I turn what a brand stands for into a narrative people remember, repeat and believe.
Chapter III · Culture
Culture rarely moves in a straight line. Nostalgia, fandoms, Gen Z codes: I help brands become part of the culture, not just advertise next to it.
Chapter IV · Studio
I don't offer packages. I partner with founders and teams at the intersection of culture, behaviour, technology and storytelling, AI-enabled and human-led, to decode what's next and build what lasts.
Twenty minutes on the problem.
A fixed-fee proposal in 48 hours.
Built with your team.
Explore
The rest of the story, one room at a time.
Twenty years of stations, brands and launches.
Open →ii.Jingles, promos and characters. Press play.
Open →iii.Brands built on social. Swipe through.
Open →iv.Twenty years of shows and the stars behind them.
Open →v.Essays on culture, brands and AI.
Open →vi.Field reports and guides to take with you.
Open →The proof · Selected work
The stations, brands and rooms where the story was written.
Swipe the case studies
Launching and scaling a station for a diverse, multicultural audience in a crowded radio market.
320K+ community across social
A relaunch that needed its music, shows and audience understanding to match a new direction.
A new programming framework, delivered
Audiobooks narrated on air for visually impaired listeners, turning the station into a library anyone could open.
Best Community Service, Excellence in Radio Awards
The Sound Room
Two decades of making brands heard. A selection of sonic identities, promos and characters, from brief to broadcast.
A station's sound is its signature. For Kadak FM's sonic identity, I wrote the creative brief and worked with acclaimed Bollywood composer Amit Trivedi to turn the station's personality into music. I led the detailing discussions, feedback sessions and negotiations through to the final track.
A seasonal branding promo made with generative AI from start to finish. I developed the concept and supported the copy, then prompted and produced the track in Suno. AI was the studio, while the idea, tone and brand fit stayed human-led.
A concert that never happened, until it played on radio. I conceived a recreated Kishore Kumar concert built from bytes of his real live performances, woven together with our RJ's voice so the host seems to share the stage with the legend. I picked the bytes, wrote the script and led the edit, and every stage was done by me or under my supervision.
A character the city recognises within seconds. I shaped Anna's voice and persona, studying local city references so every line feels familiar to listeners. I supervised the scripting and production.
Films made for the ear, premiered on air. With Mirchi Productions, Radio Mirchi created India's first original radio films: stories written, cast and produced for radio. I took the idea from concept to air, building the stories with the writing team, sitting in on production, and selecting and directing the voice artists. Each premiere was launched like a movie release, with film posters in newspapers as part of a complete marketing campaign. The work won Best Creative Campaign at the Excellence in Radio Awards.
Produced for Kadak FM, Abu Dhabi, and Radio Mirchi, India. Shared as portfolio excerpts; all rights remain with their respective owners.
The Scroll Room
Brands built on social, from first post to point of view. Three brands, three voices, one rule: earn the pause.
Love · International Dog’s DayOne word, turned into a family album.
India’s first ethical pet marketplace.
Brand voice · Content · Campaigns
Lilac × pink blushOne idea, 27.5K views.
Beauty, told like a chat with a friend.
Creator strategy · Formats · Scripts
One piece, three personalitiesOne outfit, styled three ways.
Style with a point of view.
Brand voice · Visuals · Shoppable
Use the arrows or swipe · Reels play silently, tap 🔇 for sound
The Scrapbook
Twenty years on the inside: the shows I helped bring to life, and the stars who came through the door. Turn the pages.
Events & encounters
Deepta Dixit
Chapter I
Bollywood’s biggest weekend lands on Yas Island, and I’m in the thick of it.
On the ground for Kadak FM
On the inside
Backstage withA.R. Rahman, the music maestro
Chapter II
An arena singing every word. I helped bring it to the city’s airwaves.
Media partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
In the room withRanbir Kapoor & Katrina Kaif, Bollywood’s sweethearts
Chapter III
Abu Dhabi Comedy Season, “Kisi Ko Batana Mat”. We made sure everyone heard about it.
Partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
On set withSalman Khan, Bollywood’s Bhai
Chapter IV
Back then. Live again. A comeback I helped turn into a homecoming.
Radio partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
Up close withShah Rukh Khan, the King of Bollywood
Chapter V
Rishab Rikhiram Sharma: music for the mind. A cause I was proud to amplify.
Media partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
Fun with the starsRanveer Singh & Vaani Kapoor
Chapter VI
One man. One mic. A world tour that began in Dubai, with us on air.
Partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
Behind the scenes withShah Rukh Khan & Kajol, our favourite onscreen couple
More pages, every year.
Deepta Dixit
Events & encounters
Deepta Dixit
Chapter I
Bollywood’s biggest weekend lands on Yas Island, and I’m in the thick of it.
On the ground for Kadak FM
On the inside
Backstage withA.R. Rahman, the music maestro
Chapter II
An arena singing every word. I helped bring it to the city’s airwaves.
Media partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
In the room withRanbir Kapoor & Katrina Kaif, Bollywood’s sweethearts
Chapter III
Abu Dhabi Comedy Season, “Kisi Ko Batana Mat”. We made sure everyone heard about it.
Partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
On set withSalman Khan, Bollywood’s Bhai
Chapter IV
Back then. Live again. A comeback I helped turn into a homecoming.
Radio partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
Up close withShah Rukh Khan, the King of Bollywood
Chapter V
Rishab Rikhiram Sharma: music for the mind. A cause I was proud to amplify.
Media partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
Fun with the starsRanveer Singh & Vaani Kapoor
Chapter VI
One man. One mic. A world tour that began in Dubai, with us on air.
Partner · Kadak FM
On the inside
Behind the scenes withShah Rukh Khan & Kajol, our favourite onscreen couple
More pages, every year.
Deepta Dixit
The notebook
The story keeps being written. Notes from the intersection of culture, technology and human behaviour.
Swipe the essays
Long before your feed knew you better than your mother, a radio station did. With fewer servers and more chai.
Nostalgia in branding.
In the age of AI, expertise is shifting from knowing to curating. The re-expert sees around corners.
Influential, aspirational and underserved. It's time brands stopped ignoring them.
New essays on culture, brands and AI, in your inbox.
Subscribe on SubstackThe library
Field reports, guides and frameworks, free to read as each one is published.
Swipe the library
The cultural shifts brands in the UAE and India can't afford to miss. Field Report 01 · October 2026.
Read the field report →How creative and content teams can use AI as a partner without losing their voice.
In preparation · notify me →Everything a team needs to brief me, in one place.
View on LinkedIn ↗
About
Jill of all. Master of none. But often better than the master of one.
Hi! I'm Deepta, a creative consultant here to build brands that don't fit in. Right-brained marketer and left-brained brand strategist. AI enabled. Dabble in multiples, linear in approach.
Double-decade corporate survivor. Experienced. Curious. Gen A–Gen Z observer. Not everything needs to make sense every time. Brands build on connecting random dots in a square. Two decades of building brands across India and the UAE.
The next chapter
The next chapter · Contact
Tell me about the brand, the audience and the change you're facing. I reply within two working days.
Deepta Dixit is a culture and brand storytelling consultant and the founder of The Grey Matr Co., based between the UAE and India. She has 20+ years in media and brands, including heading programming at Radio Mirchi in Mumbai and launching Kadak FM in Abu Dhabi, and has won three Excellence in Radio Awards.
A culture strategist reads shifts in behaviour, media and technology, and turns them into a clear point of view for a brand: what to say, where to show up and which cultural moments to own.
Brand storytelling turns what a brand stands for into a narrative people remember and repeat: a clear voice, a point of view and consistent stories across content, campaigns, audio and events.
A radio programming consultant shapes how a station sounds and who it is for: music policy, show line-ups and formats, presenter direction, audience research and launch or relaunch strategy. Deepta has done this for Radio Mirchi, Kadak FM and East FM Kenya.
Pop culture strategy helps brands become part of the culture rather than advertise next to it: reading trends, fandoms and what Gen Z is talking about, then building partnerships, moments and a point of view that fit the brand.
Between the UAE and India, working with founders and teams across both and beyond, remotely and in person.
Yes, as a creative partner: for research, prototyping and exploring ideas. The thinking, taste and craft stay human. Deepta holds a Leadership in AI certificate from ISB.
