Photo contributed | After a career in newspaper journalism and with a marketing agency, Vikaas Shanker of Fresno has given new life to his own marketing venture.

When Vikaas Shanker launched his media brand in 2020, he didn’t realize it would take a global pandemic, a major career shift and years of experience to bring the vision full circle.

Now, nearly five years removed from the start of the pandemic, that vision is becoming a reality for the former journalist turned marketing and public relations expert.

Before entering marketing, Shanker spent four years as a reporter at the Merced Sun Star, where he developed a passion for storytelling that changed the community. But as so many are in today’s age of rapidly accelerating digital media, the newsroom shrank, resources dwindled and the challenges began to outweigh the opportunities.

“I didn’t do it for the pay but, you know, I got married; I was trying to start a family,” he said. “One of the things I liked about journalism was the ability to really go deep into a story — talk to a lot of people and then do a lot of research and really develop a story that’s good for the community. I couldn’t really do that; there were a few stories that I was doing where I was like, ‘There’s a story here, but I don’t have the time to pursue that.’”

During his tenure, Shanker said the Sun Star staff was gutted, with the paper relocating from its longtime headquarters to a much smaller office — a former dentist’s office — furthering the challenges to report thoroughly on the stories he hoped to pursue.

Those changes pushed him to consider a new career path. In early 2020, Shanker decided to leave journalism and explore marketing.

“I had started my own company,” he said. “Through that, I was getting leads and then Covid hit.”

The company — Vikaas Shanker Media — began as a side project but, at the time unbeknownst to Shanker, quickly became a foundation for his career’s next phase.

When the pandemic slowed his early momentum, he joined an agency to gain experience, but held onto the domain name, with the hopes of one day eventually returning to his own venture.

“I started looking more into it and talking to some PR people I knew,” he said. “There are people and there are organizations that need to tell people about themselves and I could help do that.”

That realization led to one of his first major marketing efforts — creating social media video content for current Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto’s 2020 election campaign. With traditional campaigning sidelined by the pandemic, Shanker helped the campaign pivot its focus to digital outreach and video storytelling.

That experience reinforced his belief that with the skills he’s honed in journalism, the opportunity for a fulfilling career in marketing was on the horizon.

Shortly after, Shanker joined Fresno-based Archer and Hound as a social media manager. During his time at the agency, Shanker developed his skills, designing online campaigns, improving search engine optimization and expanding brand visibility for clients.

“PR, content marketing, social media marketing — those were kind of like my core strengths and what I led over at the agency,” he said.

When Archer and Hound acquired Butler Branding in 2024, Shanker said the transition shifted his role in the company; by the following year, now equipped with more knowledge and experience in the marketing industry, he decided to revisit his original pre-pandemic concept — bringing his own business back to life.

“When I left Archer and Hound I decided this is a great time to start it up again,” he said. “Now I actually have a lot of experience in marketing…and social media marketing and PR and content marketing.”

With Vikaas Shanker Media launching just a few months ago, he set out to help small businesses across the Central Valley grow their digital presence through social media, SEO and deep, online storytelling — something that calls back to his time in journalism.

“Now I have way more experience and now I know what I’m doing,” he said. “Now I can really do a good job for small businesses in the area, which is what I’m really focused on.”

Shanker said that his company is still in the “spreading the word” stage, working to build brand recognition while connecting with new clients.

He said that one of the biggest challenges at Archer and Hound was the challenge of self-marketing — a challenge that he said he is the same as that which he undertakes for his clients: all about visibility.

“It’s about visibility,” he said. “And so that’s really the hole that I’m trying to fill: digital visibility.”

In addition to marketing strategy, Vikaas Shanker Media also offers website development, AI-assisted content services and advisory support for businesses looking to strengthen their digital footprint.

He said the relaunch of his company combines everything he’s learned — utilizing the storytelling instincts of journalism, the technical skills of advertising agency work and the personal touch of a community member with a passion for small business outreach.

“I’m in my ‘spreading the word’ stage right now,” he said. “Now I can really do a good job for small businesses in the area.”