Category: Creativity

Dussehra was coming up. What could a travel company possibly do in content?

The first idea was, of course, the journey to Sri Lanka… someone yelled ‘how about a coupon code’ for Sri Lanka‍ ‍♂️ , or we could celebrate that flight, that journey by showing on a map.. But that’s done and dusted, same same, nothing different…

You know, the first ideas which hit you are usually the wrong ideas because they come from your programming, from what you’ve seen.

After that, when you dig deep and ask the magical question of “what if”, that’s when creativity happens. That’s when so many doors open.

(Brief intro: Dussehra is an Indian holiday celebrating good over evil, with the story of Rama defeating the ten-headed Ravana, by travelling all the way to Sri Lanka)

We had so much fun just brainstorming different possibilities, and we applied the “What if” scenario here: What if Ravana was travelling today? How would that be?

Within an hour or two, everything was created. We had so much fun creating this. The more fun we have, you know, the audience will also have. We just need to protect the integrity of exactly what we laughed at without the analysis of a lot of other people.

So here it is, this is what we did a few years back celebrating Dussehra  

PS: Try applying ‘what if’ as a hack to generate fun ideas, would love to know what you come up with :)

Digital Marketing can get overwhelming. How do you navigate your way?

With so many options, platforms, tools, hacks, and best practices to glean online.. it can get overwhelming to make this whole marketing engine work. If you’re a student, it seems like a mountain of a task.. and doing an MBA doesn’t really help because the game keeps changing fast. If you’re working.. it seems you’re always chasing, behind the curve, and for CXOs.. sometimes it feels like you’ve missed the bus on this..

First, go buy an expensive notebook. Make sure it’s exquisite with premium quality pages. Why? Because with an expensive notebook, you’re careful what you write. You don’t waste pages.

Whatever you learn about how things are changing – technology, insights, online courses, books – write it in that notebook. This becomes your manual, your equation of what works. It becomes your perspective, your vantage point.

In this fast-paced world of evolving digital marketing, technologies, and platforms, you need to be sure about the fundamentals and how to be tactical. 

The best guiding light in this ocean, will be your own manual. Because deep down, you know what’s right.

Trust your inner magic, your inner flow.

And go buy that notebook.

Tiny celebrations go a long way

Tiny celebrations go a long way… in achieving bigger goals…

Throwback photo from a few years back when all teams got together to look at the screen because our video was about to hit 2 million views. We had shots made out of… well, I won’t say what, but everyone did a shot. It was a tiny celebration, a quick 10-minute party, and then everybody got back to work.

But it’s those tiny celebrations that define the culture, the freedom, the camaraderie, friendships, and the drive to do it together. When the journey is fun, the outcome is also great.

So here’s to tiny wins and the big impacts!

You’re working on a video project: how to stop pleasing your boss or client?

Always remember: when you’re creating content, you’re not creating for yourself or the client, but for the audience of the client. Be obsessed about figuring out what’s in their interest first.. walk in their shoes, do research, deep dive into their pain points and micro moments.. make sure you have a lot of dots to connect for that one killer idea.

The goal of the video isn’t just for them to watch it. The goal is to make it so compelling that they share it. Make it worthy of sharing first.

When your audience is happy, & content is being organically shared.. stakeholders are happy. It’s win-win-win. If you start focusing solely on your client, you’ll be stuck in the race of pleasing them.

Stop pleasing your stakeholders, stop pleasing your clients & start creating genuinely authentic content for & about your audience. When you give them value for every second they watch, you’ve cracked it.

Drowning in multiple deadlines? How to drive your career growth in spite of it?

In my experience, if you’re skilled at what you do, if you love learning and getting better at your craft, you can figure out how to schedule and prioritise – that’s the easy part.

But in all of this, you must carve out time for yourself each day to focus on what you love in the whole process – the part where you forget time, which you truly enjoy, that one aspect of the whole game.

If you don’t do this, you’ll stay in the rat race of handling multiple projects as a skilled vendor/service provider, whether in a job or being independent, but you won’t grow in your career.

Remember, career growth must be like building/investing in an elevator to take you higher, not like climbing stairs.

So, while juggling priorities:
1. Figure out realistic time requirements for each project.
2. Aim for excellence, not perfection. Produce what’s required.
3. Most importantly, set aside one hour a day for self-improvement, playing with your craft, following your heart, learning and experimenting. Give your best to get better.

This daily practice, over months and years, will give you an exceptional flow in your craft. And that, my friend, will produce magic.

Prioritize effectively, but never at the cost of your growth. This will help you tackle multiple projects while still moving forward in your career.