The pandemic saw the growth of many new activities and habits. Everything from work culture to household chores saw paradigm shifts. Entertainment as a category too saw a revolutionary change in the type of content being created and consumed. No longer did people have to spend 15 to 30 minutes of their time watching informative or enjoyable videos. Short form content emerged as a boon to many who had busy work schedules and were pressed for time.
You could now watch the same informative or enjoyable video in 30 seconds to 1 minute with more or less the same impact. The growth of short form content not only created an all new disruptive category in the entertainment genre but also emerged as a source of employment to many who thought they could make relevant, trendy and interesting content. These ‘content creators’ carved a niche for themselves, each having their own unique style of presenting themselves in an entertaining manner for their audiences.
Soon to be brand favourites for ‘paid partnerships’, content creators became the first choice for many brands to market their products. Categories like fashion, technology and personal hygiene saw content creators being approached for endorsements rather than high profile celebrities. It proved beneficial to brands by saving large costs as these content creators conceptualised, shot and edited their own videos. Moreover, since they were influential experts of their respective domains, they proved to be a credible source of information too. This worked exceedingly well in favour of brands.
There are only two ideal ways to pierce and disrupt a new segment with a new product. Either you join in when the segment is just emerging and stay in it for the long game or join at a time when the segment has gained great popularity with an exciting, different and riotous product. Thus, many influencers emerged who gained immense popularity as a result of the pandemic when short form content became the name of the game.
One such influencer who emerged as a leading face in the creator race hails from Bangalore. Having garnered a huge following with her humorous, fun and relatable content, she is today one of the most popular content creators in the country.
Who is aiyyoshraddha?
Shraddha Jain, an ex-radio jockey, now full time influencer creates fun to watch, family-friendly short form content. Better known as ‘aiyyoshraddha’ on all social media platforms, she creates content that revolves around real world issues and situations that we face almost all the time. All of this is presented in an absolutely hilarious and amusing manner.
Shraddha spent nine years as a radio jockey before joining the television industry for a brief moment. The biggest skill she picked up from both these roles was how to sell an idea in 20 seconds. With short form content ranging between 15 seconds and 1 minute, this skill particularly came in handy, to clearly convey an idea or thought in that time.
It takes skill to be funny in one language, but to be funny in five different languages is an art in itself. Shraddha writes and performs her videos in English, Hindi, Marathi, Tulu and Kannada. She doesn’t think of herself as a comedian or an expert but a storyteller who loves to share stories, she told Storyboard18 in a previous interview.
She creates fictional characters that she plays herself based on the story she wants to tell. From the unapologetic Mrs. Kulkarni to wiseacre Malathi Akka, every character brings a fresh and unique perspective to a situation. Recently, she added a new character to her portfolio. Reena Dalal, a ‘makaan matcher’ or property broker in layman’s terms, is a parody from the popular OTT reality show Indian Matchmaking.
The type of content she creates caters to all age groups. Everyone, from kids to adults to senior citizens, can equally enjoy consuming it individually or together. Transcending demographic and platform boundaries, Jain’s videos appeal to everyone from GenZers who check her content on Reels to corporate head honchos who share her videos on LinkedIn.
The Holy Grail – relatable content
Aiyyoshraddha’s videos are hilarious and entertaining to watch. She brings out such a unique perspective on topics that are presented in a very fun, comical manner. Every character she plays is quirky yet absolutely relatable.
A favourite character is Mrs. Kulkarni. The way she gossips about people and has something to say on anything and everything makes her a familiar character. This author was actually recommended her profile on Instagram by his mother, who is a huge fan of aiyyoshraddha.
Consequently, we had to ask the mother what she thought about Shraddha and her videos as well.
“I came across her on Instagram reels. There were two things that drew me towards her content. One, I am a south Indian and her name has the word ‘aiyyo’ in it. Second, I am a working professional as well and her videos on work life are fun to watch and are very relatable. My favourite video of hers is the ‘save the manager’ video.”
Her most popular video is ‘Sugarless Please’ on Instagram that involves a typical middle class south Indian family having a conversation about their daughter wanting to quit sugar. The daughter goes to the market and buys all super foods to which the parents have a quirky and confused reaction.
Recently Shraddha released a video called ‘Tech It or Leave It’. The video hysterically talks about how “Anybody who is anybody at a technology company today is a ‘tech – something.’” Software engineers are ‘Tech Talents’, marketing professionals are ‘Tech Evangelists’ and so on.
Shraddha Jain manages to stand out amongst the large pool of content creators with her clean and witty content. Brands across categories such as FMCG, BFSI and real estate have rushed to work with her, given her rising popularity and relatable content. She is being loved not only in India but all over the world today. Her presence on social media platforms is growing exponentially. With over 2,80,000 subscribers on YouTube, almost 6,00,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 60,000 followers on Twitter. And lest we forget, WhatsApp. A good test of virality in content is when a video lands in a WhatsApp group as a forward from maa.
Happy Diwali!