The Hindu reacts to TOI wake-up call; asks readers to stay ahead of the times

The Chennai-based English daily has launched a multimedia campaign that takes a potshot at The Times of India's Bollywood and Page 3 coverage.

The Chennai-based English daily The Hindu, has launched a campaign that takes a potshot at The Times of India (TOI) -- a reaction to the TOI's recent campaign for the Chennai market which asks readers to wake up and not fall asleep with the boring news they read -- clearly targeted at the market leader The Hindu.

The latest campaign by The Hindu urges readers to 'Stay ahead of the times', emphasising that there is more to a newspaper than celebrity-driven, sensation-seeking journalism. The ads ask readers to not fall prey to trivia, but rather embrace national and international issues that really matter. The campaign has been conceptualised by Ogilvy India. The commercials by The Hindu have gone viral with lots of people sharing the tongue-in-cheek ads on Facebook and Twitter.

"We got Ogilvy on board to build on the strengths and resolve the negatives of The Hindu. But, when the TOI launched a campaign indirectly targeting us four months back, we decided not to react at the time, but wait for the right time, and the right motive despite a lot of internal angst and pressure," says Suresh Srinivasan, vice-president, advertising, The Hindu Group. The campaign is being extended to television, radio, cinema, print, outdoor, and digital. It will be supported by on-ground activities in malls, cafes, and other locations in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The activities will focus on increasing the circulation of the daily, and for this, the group will employ people at youth hangouts and joggers park to promote its product by free sampling of the paper, and generate subscriptions.

The three TVCs currently on air are in an interview format, where the interviewees are educated youngsters who do not know the name of the Indian vice-president, the full form of UPA or ATM, the successor of Ratan Tata, the author of the Harry Potter series, or Prince Rama's father in the Ramayan, and the answers to other general knowledge questions, but do know if actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has had a boy or a girl. When, in the end, the interviewees are asked which newspaper they read, the answer is the 'Times of India'.

The TVCs are being run across entertainment, the GECs, and the news channels of the four southern states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka), apart from the English news nationals NDTV 24x7, and CNN IBN. The print ads have been published in language dailies across the four southern states.

Action-reaction

"It was surprising to find the TOI not talk about its strengths, but demean the other newspaper. The latest IRS results show the choice of Chennai very clearly. I don't think the campaign helped them in any way, but to receive the wrath of the Hindu loyalists. We decided to highlight our strengths, rather than merely lampoon the negatives," Srinivasan further adds.

The brief given to the agency was to create an ad that gets the people to re-evaluate their media choices, and switch to a smarter newspaper. The new advertising campaign aims to generate conversations about the state of affairs, and move people to act in their own interest.

Simi Sabhaney, president,Bengaluru and Chennai, Ogilvy Advertising, says, "We felt the time was right to hold up the mirror to the disturbing trend in the Indian media industry." According to Sabhaney, to sell newspapers by serving a steady diet of trivia and to shy away from national and international issues that really matter, may help sell more newspapers in the short term, but "it is the news equivalent of junk food. And, the long-term result is a steady dumbing-down of readers."

Killing two birds with one stone?

The campaign is meant as a reaction to the TOI's 'Wake up to the TOI' campaign, but it has a striking resemblance to DNA's campaign for its Bollywood supplement After Hours, launched last year. However, Sabhaney is of the view that there is not much similarity between the two except for the format. "Nothing is similar, be it the message or the conclusion." According to Srinivasan, The Hindu was not aware of the DNA campaign until now.

Like it?

The ad industry has taken the ad in a positive stride. Ramanuj Shastry, chief creative officer, Saatchi & Saatchi India, quite liked the ad and found it funny. "It hits the TOI very hard, for, whether they like it not, it has become a glam paper with its Bollywoodish content. However, The Hindu has historically been a very strong editorial-driven daily. It is the BBC of the Indian newspaper."

He quite likes the idea of direct confrontation as well. "If it's an enemy, then why not? We have had enough of Bombay Times type of content."

Soumitra Karnik, national creative director, Dentsu India Group, feels that though it brings a smile on the face initially, it fails to move him beyond that, and there are no layers to the content of the campaign. "I liked it at first go, but beyond that there is nothing to it. It's just another spoof, and is shallow." He adds that the TOI has, over the years, proved that it is a far more serious publication with campaigns like Lead India and Teach India. "It is a bit unfair of The Hindu to do so, it cannot compete with the TOI, considering the mammoth tasks the latter has achieved," he adds.