DNA urges people to Be Polite

As an extension to its 'Good is in our DNA' campaign, the Maharashtra-based English daily is urging people to Be Polite.

Maharashtra-based English daily DNA has taken up a campaign titled 'Be Polite' which urges people to be polite and nice to others. This is a part of the brand's umbrella campaign, 'Good is in our DNA', launched in August, 2013.

The idea behind the umbrella campaign was to bring a positive change to the society and reflect more positive and good news in the papers instead of only bad news.

Continuing the same thought, the fundamental behind the Be Polite campaign is that in the fast paced life of urban cities, people do not have the time for niceties and often forget that while it is nice to be important, it is very important to be nice.

Be Polite was launched in mid-December, 2013 and the creatives for it were designed by Infectious.

Some of the creatives for the campaign contain phrases like 'Remember that your children get their manners from you', 'Hope is not a strategy. Do Good', and 'We are designed to be good'.

The newspaper has used both print and digital to promote the campaign. On the Facebook front, people can share 'Thank You', 'Sorry' or 'Please' cards with friends and family they want to express their feelings for. The creatives were printed across all editions of DNA.

To be a part of the campaign, people can send an SMS to 575758 and become an ambassador for good. They can also visit the website http://www.dnaindia.com/good/ to support the initiative.

Speaking about the insight behind the campaign, Sorbojeet Chatterjee, senior vice-president, marketing, DNA, says, "The core insight is that by and large, people have become extremely impatient and intolerant. The basic value of being polite is oft forgotten. We have used a strong hook that children pick up their manners in terms of social dos and don'ts from their parents."

Ramanuj Shastry, director and co-founder, Infectious, says, "As adults we are all very conscious of how our kids are growing up. However we tend to forget that children will learn what they see and not what they are told. Hence we need to first be polite if we want them to learn."

The paper had also organised a Joy of Giving week where it partnered with some of the best schools in Mumbai and got children to learn the joy of giving. Every child donated one item to an underprivileged child. The results of this activity were outstanding, wherein 8,000 children participated, six truckloads of gifts were collected and 4,000 underprivileged children received them.

DNA also has a microsite that carries stories from across constituencies of the country. The site, http://volunteer.iamin.in/, highlights local problems and promotes citizen journalism.