Bengali SongsAre So Unnecessary
The premiseThe title sounds like a complaint. That’s the point. A song is the entry point; the story around it is what stays with you.
A head full of stories.
Poke around. Everything in here is clickable.
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I’m Siddharth Sen, known as Phakibaaz. I explore people, culture and the ideas hiding in everyday life, and turn what I find into stories, creative concepts and content people care about.
Storyteller · Creator · Content & Creator Strategist · Marketer
46.8MInstagram views
13.6Mviewers
RJ WarsMicanvas 2026 finalist
IFP 16Spoken Word nominee
McKinsey.orgForward Program, completed
Open toplacement conversations
See the receipts
I don’t just tell stories. I look for why they matter.
A song can be a memory. A festival can be a history lesson. Sometimes, the most interesting thing about a familiar tradition is the story nobody bothered to tell you.
That’s the stuff I like chasing.
I research it, find the angle, figure out who might care, and turn it into something people want to watch, understand or share.
A familiar song carries more than its melody. It carries a person, a place, a version of you.
See the work
Five things that grew out of that head
Selected work
Culture and contextaround Pujo
The ideaCelebrating a tradition and understanding the stories behind it aren’t necessarily the same thing. This series starts where the celebration footage stops.
Typographyas storytelling
The approachSize, spacing, timing, contrast and sound can change how the same words feel. I treat the visual as part of the idea, not a coat of paint on it.
Plus two more: one I built, one I taught.
The story starts before the script.
Observe
“I’m always collecting things: songs, stories, conversations, odd little details. Sometimes the interesting bit is hiding in plain sight.”
Understand
“Before I write, I want to know who the story is for and what they already know. The same story needs a different entry point for different people.”
Find the angle
“A fact is useful. The right framing makes someone care about it.”
Tell the story
“Now comes the writing, the hook, the visuals, the sound and the delivery.”
Test
“I experiment with narration, visual and sound hooks rather than assuming the first idea is the best one.”
Learn
“Views are a signal. They’re not the whole explanation. I look at the response and use it to make better decisions next time.”
The problem most brands share
Every audience sits on one of five rungs. Most brands talk to the wrong one.
Whatever a brand sells, the people it wants to reach are at different stages of awareness. The usual mistake is talking to all of them as if they were at the end. A creator-marketer’s job is to meet people where they are and move them up one rung at a time.
What they’re thinking
“I’m fine. I don’t have a problem, and I’ve never heard of you.”
Where brands go wrong
Feature-led ads. There’s nothing here for them to say yes to, so it reads as noise.
What a creator-marketer does
Start from something they already care about: a story, a feeling, a cultural reference. Earn the attention first, bring up the problem second.
What they’re thinking
“Something’s off, but I can’t say what, and I don’t know what would fix it.”
Where brands go wrong
Jumping straight to the product. They want to feel understood before they’re sold to.
What a creator-marketer does
Name the problem better than they can. Make people feel seen, then show there’s a way through.
In my work: the viewer who knows the rituals but not the reasons.
What they’re thinking
“I know there are options. I haven’t seen why yours is different.”
Where brands go wrong
Claiming to be the best. It carries no weight when they haven’t compared anything.
What a creator-marketer does
Show a different approach, with a reason it works, through a story rather than a spec sheet.
In my work: positioning the Pujo series with Blue Ocean and ERRC.
What they’re thinking
“I know you. I’m still not sure.”
Where brands go wrong
More awareness content. They’re stuck on doubt, not on discovery.
What a creator-marketer does
Answer the doubts. Show real use, real reactions and where the product fits in their life, inside a story they already trust.
In my work: how a brand could sit inside a story (a potential idea).
What they’re thinking
“I’m in. Give me a reason to act now.”
Where brands go wrong
Over-explaining. They’re ready, so more story feels like friction.
What a creator-marketer does
Keep it short and specific: a reminder, an offer, a community moment. Let loyal fans become the storytellers.
The five stages come from Eugene Schwartz’s Breakthrough Advertising. How I apply them to content is my own.
Hand me a brief.
Pick a problem a marketing team might actually have. Here’s how I’d start, and which frameworks I’d reach for.
How I’d start
- Map the audience first with an Empathy Map: what they already know, feel and do around the subject.
- Find the job the story does for them with Jobs To Be Done: recognition, curiosity or connection.
- Look for the gap nobody covers with Blue Ocean and ERRC, then pick a different way in for each kind of viewer.
Frameworks I’d reach for
Where it connects to my work
My Pujo series starts from context, not just the celebration.
Read the Pujo case study Send me yoursOpens an email with the subject line already filled in.
How I’d start
- Start from the viewer’s job with Jobs To Be Done: why do people watch this kind of story at all?
- Match the product’s value to that job with the Value Proposition Canvas, so it earns a place inside the story instead of in front of it.
- Take stock of what the brand and I each bring with Tangibles & Intangibles, then pick the story only that pairing can tell.
Frameworks I’d reach for
Where it connects to my work
My thoughts on how a brand could fit into Bengali Songs Are So Unnecessary.
Read that case study Send me yoursOpens an email with the subject line already filled in.
How I’d start
- Treat views as data, not validation. Read the comments and DMs for the reason people stayed.
- Ask what job the content does for the viewer with Jobs To Be Done, and compare it with what else they could watch using Red Ocean.
- Change one thing at a time: narration, a visual hook, a sound hook. Keep what holds attention.
Frameworks I’d reach for
Where it connects to my work
This is the Test and Learn part of how I work.
Open the Strategy Lab Send me yoursOpens an email with the subject line already filled in.
How I’d start
- The hook gets them curious. Use an Empathy Map to decide what this viewer needs to know to stay.
- Run ERRC on the format: what to eliminate, reduce, raise and create compared with the usual short-form in this category.
- Treat typography, timing and sound as signs that carry meaning, and cut anything clever but unclear.
Frameworks I’d reach for
Where it connects to my work
Frames from my own typography-led reels and experiments, read through semiotics.
See the typography work Send me yoursOpens an email with the subject line already filled in.
Creator impact
46.8MInstagram viewscumulative views across everything I’ve made, straight from Instagram’s own numbers
10K+followers who showed up for it
12reels with 1M+ views
30reels in the 100K–800K range
46.8M is Instagram’s own number from my insights, cumulative across everything I’ve made, rather than one IP or one series.
See all the receiptsThe storyteller came before the strategist.
I’ve been performing on stage since I was four. Long before I started thinking about social media, I was learning what it meant to hold an audience’s attention.
Over time, that instinct found other forms: writing, cultural research, typography, short-form video and original IPs.
Siddharth Sen, a.k.a. Phakibaaz, is where all of that meets.
More about meHave something worth figuring out together?
I’m interested in work where culture, human insight and creative thinking can make the difference. I’m open to placement conversations for content, creator and marketing roles.