Daily News & Analysis: Outdoor is in its DNA

DNA is planning to launch its Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai editions. A pre-cursor campaign for the Bangalore launch is already under way

Three years ago, Mumbai’s façade was dotted with some rather intriguing hoardings that showed citizens with duct tape stuck to their mouths. No logo, no words, no nothing – just that one visual. A follow-up revealed the words: ‘Speak Up, It’s In Your DNA’, with the same images minus the tape. The revealer declared it to be the launch campaign (created by Rediffusion DY&R) for Daily News & Analysis, a newspaper apparently ‘created’ by the ‘janta’.

While most say the product didn’t live up to the hype back then, the newspaper is expanding its presence to other parts of the country, slowly but surely. After Mumbai, DNA was launched in Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune and Jaipur. It claims to be the No. 2 English broadsheet daily in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.

Now DNA is planning to launch its Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai editions. A pre-cursor campaign for the Bangalore launch is already under way; the daily will be launched there sometime between October 2008 and January 2009.

Contract Advertising, DNA’s agency, has created a campaign comprising outdoor, ambient and on-ground activities, events and a music video. “Our brief was simply to make the launch unforgettable while keeping the positive aspects of the city in mind,” says Raghu Bhat, vice-president and executive creative director, Contract.

Few know that 68 per cent Bangaloreans aren’t actually of Bangalore origin; they come from other parts of the country. Further, Bangalore is one of the youngest cities, that is to say, it is a city that boasts of the highest number of young people in the country, when compared to other cities. Bangalore is also known for its IT wealth, a cultural bent, a spiritual home for fashion, its coffee shops and pubs, and the highest number of rock bands in the country.

However, of late, one keeps reading negative news about Bangalore, be it the increasing crime rate in the city, the recent bomb blasts or even the dipping infrastructure. “As Kannada people are generally docile in nature and aren’t outspoken about their feelings, our campaign hopes to highlight the positives of Bangalore that they so badly want to talk about,” says Bhat. “The campaign is aimed at giving them a voice.”

After presenting some 12-13 campaigns, one final thought – ‘I Believe in Bangalore’ – was decided upon. Contract hopes that this thought will transcend beyond advertising and create a buzz in the city. ‘I Believe in Bangalore’ is aimed to be a massive celebration of Bangalore as a city and all the positives for which it stands. Like the Mumbai launch, the campaign makes heavy use of outdoor. Contract claims to have captured almost 70 per cent of the premium sites in the city with its hoardings. This, agency executives say, is much more in percentage terms than what was done in Mumbai.

The campaign is divided into seven phases and is currently in its third phase. The first phase had hoardings with the image of a city resident alongside the words, ‘I Believe in Bangalore’. While that got people talking, the second teaser phase had these people saying, ‘I Believe in Bangalore because Bangalore is in my DNA’.

Finally, the revealer has been launched with interesting facts about the city’s heritage and modernity fused with the launch news of the newspaper. For instance, one hoarding shows a woman with the copy, ‘C, C++, Kannada. The most widely used languages in Bangalore – I Believe in Bangalore’, followed by the DNA logo. Every week or two, a new phase will be revealed.

The next phases will concentrate on involving the youth in the creation of the campaign. “In a way, it will be 50 per cent our work and the rest by the consumers themselves,” says Bhat. The newspaper plans to leverage every youth touchpoint – events, rock concerts, transport/ commuting options, malls and multiplexes – to get the Bangalore fever going.

In addition to all this, a music video has been created in which a rap style song has various characters talking of what’s wonderful about Bangalore. Some 52 characters have been shot in a typical music video fashion, with quick cuts and layering. It has a camera on a moving truck, touring the city, and various characters shot separately juxtaposed upon the truck.

The video has been composed by composer Samiruddin (who has created a club/ fusion feel for the song) and the lyrics have been written by Earl, Vijayprakash and Raghu Bhat. Naren Multani of McCann Erickson Films Division has shot the film.

The music video will air in cinema halls (including multiplexes) from August 8. Talks are on to air it on music channels such as MTV and VH1 as well. DNA is also approaching various rock bands to get them to perform the song at concerts before they start their own performances.

A radio commercial with a jingle completes the activity. “Bangalore in my DNA is supposed to say two things – that Bangalore is a part of their DNA as well as that one will find Bangalore in the newspaper called DNA,” explains Raghu Bhat. The campaign has been created by him along with Manish Bhatt, Anshumani Khanna, Manan Mistry and Arunava Sengupta of Contract.

According to sources, a total of Rs 6-7 crore has been allotted to the campaign, including the phases yet to come. Some say tieups with youth hangouts, including coffee shops, are on the anvil. Apparently, coffee shops like Barista and the homegrown Café Coffee Day will be approached with the concept of creating a unique ‘I Believe in Bangalore’ coffee flavour.

“It is a mind product at the end of the day,” says Sheena Saji, head, marketing, DNA. “We have to get people to change their reading habits, which is not an easy task. By not being preachy, we hope to appeal to a consumer’s love for the city, and hence, his own newspaper, DNA.”