Podcast Summary: The Marketing Millennials

Episode: How to Start A YouTube Channel for Your Brand with Avi Shankar | Ep. 383
Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Daniel Murray
Guest: Avi Shankar (Luxury Bazaar, The Gray Market Series)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Daniel Murray dives deep with Avi Shankar—a marketing and content strategy innovator at Luxury Bazaar—on how to build a massively successful YouTube channel when traditional marketing avenues are blocked. Together, they break down the tactical steps, creative decisions, and behind-the-scenes realities of turning a gray-market luxury watch business into a YouTube empire with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. This episode delivers actionable playbook insights for any company looking to start, grow, or rethink their YouTube strategy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why YouTube? Navigating Marketing Constraints

• The Problem: Luxury Bazaar found itself banned from Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and restricted on Google due to trademark issues—traditional marketing was out of reach.
  • Avi: “Meta banned us. Google restricted us. The luxury brands kept sending cease and desists…” (00:00)
• The Solution: Pivoted entirely to organic content—especially YouTube and SEO.
  • Developed a “behind the scenes” series (Gray Market) that humanized the watch business and leveraged transparency to engage viewers.
  • Avi: “We made celebrities out of watch dealers, which…was never a thing.” (05:00)

2. Building Authenticity—Why People Follow People, Not Brands

• Strategy: Split content between educational brand content (Luxury Bazaar channel) and personality-driven reality content (Gray Market/Roman Sharf channel).
  • “People follow personalities, not brands. So I chose to do it on his channel and that…grew his channel from…30,000 subscribers to now we’re at 475,000.” (09:03)
• Insight: Personality-based branding outperforms corporate branding, especially on YouTube.
  • Roman Sharf, the founder, became the face/expert of the channel; people pay him directly for advice.

3. Content Formats and What Works

• Initial Flop: Tried a "Million Dollar Listing" approach with high-roller customers—unlikely to work because luxury clients wanted privacy.
• Winning Formula: Reality TV-style, fly-on-the-wall, day-to-day operations filled with unscripted drama: lost packages, late payments, fraud cases.
  • Avi shares a celebrity moment: “A police officer stopped me…‘You’re on the Watch channel!’” (06:12)
• Trending Topics: Drama and authenticity drive engagement more than “day-in-the-life” or purely informational content.

4. Getting Started on YouTube: Practical Steps

• Step 1: Start with Shorts (quick, iterative, educational/entertaining content to “warm up” your channel).
  • “The first thing I did was just create shorts…see what works, see what doesn’t.” (13:32)
• Step 2: Behind-the-scenes content makes any business relatable.
  • Tip for any industry: “Give people a fly on the wall type of preview of your business.” (13:32)
• Step 3: Demonstrate expertise. Don’t fear “teaching away” your work—it builds trust and authority.
  • Avi: “Teaching people makes you [the] thought leader.” (16:05)
• Step 4: Target locally when possible—local authority matters.

5. YouTube Operations: Team, Brainstorming, & Production

• Team Evolution:
  • Started with one videographer—Avi forced shipping content quickly.
  • Grown to three full-time videographers (= shooting/editing for both YouTube and socials).
  • “You need to turn the camera on—start recording.” (19:42)
• Brainstorming:
  • Borrow from proven formats (TV, viral content, trending YouTube/TikTok ideas) and adapt for your audience.
  • “The easiest one is obviously to steal what already works…do it in your own way.” (21:11)

6. Measuring Success, Knowing When to Pivot

• Key Metric: Views, but focus on quality of views (are they potential customers or random browsers?).
  • “If a video only got 5,000 views, but these are high net worth individuals…what’s the definition of going viral?” (27:52)
• Decision Process:
  • Series survives as long as views are growing—watch for downtrends to know when to pivot or kill a concept.

7. Common Mistakes & Must-Have Tactics

• Biggest Brand Mistake: Not thinking like a viewer.
  • Be 10x as enthusiastic/charismatic as feels normal.
  • “First thing you need to do is…the same thing you need to do in all social video…come up with a hook.” (32:42)
• Hooks and Thumbnails Matter: “Write the hook before the content. If the hook sucks, the content is going to suck.” (35:11)
• Stealing like an Artist: Adapting viral memes, hooks, and formats to your subject matter is more valuable than constant reinvention.
  • “Any trending meme, use it for your industry.” (36:40)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Adversity Sparking Creativity:
  • “Constraints are probably the best marketing tool people don’t realize.” (07:56) — Co-host
• On Building a Personal Brand:
  • “People follow personalities, not brands.” (09:03)
• On Starting a Channel:
  • “Just start putting out shorts…see what works, see what doesn’t.” (13:32)
• On Sharing Expertise Openly:
  • “Teaching people makes you the thought leader.” (16:05)
• On Deciding What Content Wins:
  • “The episodes that get millions of views are typically the ones where you have…drama.” (05:50)
• On Quality vs. Quantity in Views:
  • “What’s the definition of going viral? …the majority are not your ideal customer.” (27:52)
• On Viewer Mindset:
  • “If you don’t like this video, if you will not watch it, then don’t make it.” (39:16)
• On Multichannel Strategy:
  • “You need to be omnipresent. You need to be everywhere.” (39:33)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 — The Challenge: Why Luxury Bazaar turned to YouTube after bans on Meta/Google.
• 04:30 — Behind the Scenes: Creating ‘Gray Market’ and becoming “watch dealer celebrities.”
• 09:03 — Brand vs. Personality Channels; Growing subscriber bases.
• 13:32 — Step-by-Step: How any business can start on YouTube (shorts, BTS, educating).
• 16:05 — Using content to become a thought leader in any niche.
• 19:42 — Building a YouTube team as you scale.
• 21:11 — Brainstorming new content; testing and adapting formats.
• 27:52 — Evaluating content success—views vs. view quality; knowing when to kill a series.
• 32:42 — Common mistakes companies make on YouTube (and how not to bore viewers).
• 35:11 — The power of a killer hook: “Write the hook before the content.”
• 37:39 — Rapid fire: Best video length, gear, brands to follow, and more.
• 39:33 — The hill Avi would die on: omnipresence in marketing.

Rapid Fire Takeaways (37:39–40:11)

• Best YouTube video length?
  • “10 minutes—YouTube will tell you—but I’m a fan of 20.”
• Scripted or unscripted?
  • “If you have an expert, unscripted is always better.”
• YouTube Shorts?
  • “100% worth it for channel growth, not for retention.”
• Filming gear?
  • “iPhone!”
• One brand/person to watch?
  • “Iman Gadzhi…and Dr. Squatch.”
• #1 advice for content creation:
  • “Imagine you’re the viewer. If you wouldn’t watch it, don’t make it.”
• Marketing hill to die on:
  • “Be omnipresent. Do everything you can within your budget across every platform.”

Final Thoughts

Avi Shankar’s journey is a masterclass in overcoming obstacles with creative, authentic, and adaptable content. This episode is packed with actionable tips for marketers across every industry: start simple, iterate with data, amplify the humans behind your brand, and never lose sight of the powerful impact of the right story told at the right time.

Connect:

• YouTube: Luxury Bazaar, Roman Sharf
• Instagram: @AviShankar
• Podcast: The Marketing Millennials (find on all major platforms)