“Tomorrow’s Mother’s Day!!” panicked the marketing team at 7 PM! Working remotely, faces huddled on the Zoom screen—the team and production agency at 24 Mantra Organic, specialists in organic foods. This was during the lockdown years; I was helping a friend and their team. Everyone looked a bit lost, the pressures of marketing teams on a deadline, only this time without a direction. All eyes turned to me as if I had a magic pill. But I had none—my mind was blank, zero ideas.
Then I pushed forward with the only method I knew. “Alright, everyone, next 5 minutes, just jam about all micro-moments and memories about food and moms, fast jam, talking like an auctioneer… just bringing all minds into one whole mind, rapid fire one after another. It was chaotic, voices overlapping, ideas clashing until… Food food food… mothers moms maa… wait, what all foods have ‘maa/माँ’ in their name?” Rajमाँ, upमाँ, माँcaroni… and suddenly, it clicked. Once you have three, you know it can be a long list. Over the next 15 minutes, we shaped a whole list, then shortened and curated to pick the best. With no time to spare, decided to keep it minimal using wordplay, ensuring ‘maa/माँ’ was highlighted in a different color.
We organized the list in the order they would appear on screen, as described in the book, and the screenplay started coming to life. We hunted on stock music websites for that perfect tune, one that matched the feeling and cut every shot on a beat or audio spike, so it all flowed like poetry. Reviews on screen sharing are tiresome, and maintaining creativity on Zoom calls was the weirdest, most disjointed experience, yet somehow it worked.
After reviewing it multiple times until it felt just right, hit the brakes… ‘Okay, done!’ the team then made multiple versions and finalized the release plan. By 9 PM, the video was ready. Phew! Released on Mother’s Day, it received heartwarming responses, including many comments where the audience started sharing more words with ‘maa’ in them, sparking conversations apt for a food brand on Mother’s Day.
The team works their best when work doesn’t feel like work, but play… like jamming together, like playing music together. Those two hours were not just about hard work; they were full of teamwork, spontaneous creativity, heart, and a sense of accomplishing something special together. The whole game is about obsession and a deep dive until we get to that tiny truth we all share… making it an honest, authentic experience :)
