I was barely 10 days into the job when my boss came running, excited about April Fools Day coming up. “Machate Hain!” he said, with that glint in his eyes. As someone who had just joined, not sure of my skills or capability, I was excited and terrified at the same time. For an excited boss, the bar isn’t just high – it’s infinity. It’s not about going to the moon, it’s “let’s party at the moon by 7pm!”
All I remember is channeling that excitement (with a lot of fear), doodling and mind mapping alone in a corner for hours, until one idea just jumped at me – ‘what if we create a fake product!’ and focusing on execution, execution, execution.
When we released the video, within half an hour it was picked up by news and went crazy. I remember him finding the news story and running to my desk with a high five.. ‘fod dala’, those little moments of excitement and encouragement.. shaped my journey leading the team.
It became a tradition – every year on April Fools, we had to beat what we did last year, creating a fake product, good for one day’s excitement and reach.
Looking back, an excited boss is like a candle that lights up your own excitement, and that unrealistic excitement in the moment made all the difference. Coz a creative person feeds on excitement and possibilities, not knowing how high is high… works in your favor.
Unless it becomes toxic and taken for granted – then get out of that job I’d say.. and find your next boss who gets excited with you.. looking at the unknown.
Category: Viral Videos
Viral content is meant to be stolen..brand/creator wins when audience wins.
How can a ₹10,000 experiment beat a ₹10 crore TV ad?
Even after 7 years, this video still driving tons of engagement, the power of timeless content
Topical content may last a day or week, but this video is still circulating on Instagram, just found that it was shared by 186,000 people recently.. (https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9ohYnvvCgW/)
To create timeless content:
1.. Focus on the basics, storytelling above all else, more real it feels the better.
2.. Dive deep into audience research, get to the tiniest micro-moments and pain points. Your products solves for one pain point of the audience, for all other pain points on the orbit.. use your content to solve them, your brand exists to make the lives of the audience better, through your products and content.
3.. Create authentically, no fancy graphics were used in this video.. actual book was printed and a top shot, oh and those are my hands
The video which fed 1.5 million people..
During the lockdown days, there was a crisis on the streets. While we were tucked away in our homes, a lot of migrant workers were going back to their native places, walking all the way, scrambling for any resources to get home, without food or help.
A friend of mine, Dev Amritesh, CEO of a company which had big industrial kitchens, called me. They had sprung into action. Just like any other company during that time, they were working in crisis mode. They started creating simple meals since all the offices were closed, and these meals were being fed on the ground by local NGO support.
They created a landing page where for ₹30 per meal, anyone could contribute. They would prepare it at no profit and get it delivered on the ground.
He called me to see if I could create a video. Me and my wife made this, and spent ₹350 making it. One of those lockdown moments of just teaming up after washing the dishes and cooking the food to create this video.
This video sent 10,000 people to the landing page (from instagram) with-in days and 1.5 million people were fed. I look back on this with a heavy heart and hope.. something I always remember – the power of content and storytelling to inspire action, which directly helped someone in need.
UPDATE: Comments on Linkedin Post
Dev Amritesh
Compass Group Chief Strategy Enablement officer
This brought back many memories Aashish Chopra. A great example of how crisis gets people together. And how to create impact sometimes all it takes determination and timely intervention. Lots of people played a huge role in making this happen and I remember each ones contribution fondly. Richa S. Ashwani Vohra MALABIKA GUPTA Arjyo Banerjee Abhishek A Keyur Shah Manish Mamtani Munish Sharma Supriyo Dasgupta Bhaskar NM Sriharsha M.
Aashish Nanavati
Growth-Focused Fractional CMO | Data-Driven Digital Marketing Strategist | Building Thriving Businesses Globally
Aashish what an inspiring story! This is such a powerful reminder of how meaningful impact can come from simple actions, especially in times of crisis. The fact that a ₹350 video could help feed 1.5 million people shows the true power of storytelling and the impact of collaboration. It’s heartwarming to see how creativity and purpose can come together to drive real change. Kudos to you, your wife, Dev, and everyone involved for stepping up when it was most needed. Stories like this restore faith in humanity