Amar Ujala focuses on girl power

The Hindi daily has launched an integrated campaign themed around the girl child and the change she can bring in the society.

Hindi daily Amar Ujala has launched an integrated campaign titled Beti Hi Bachayegi that attempts to increase awareness on the endless possibilities that a girl child brings to society in terms of development.

Launched on January 1, the campaign is extended to 15 cities of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal and will culminate with a ceremony on January 24, the National Girl Child Day, in Varanasi.

The campaign began on January 1 with a jacket ad around the initiative in the all the editions of Amar Ujala. Since then, the publication has been regularly advertising in UP and Uttaranchal to drive engagement.

Speaking on the idea behind the campaign, Sundar Narsimhan, vice-president and head, marketing, Amar Ujala, says, "As a newspaper we have the foremost responsibility to bring light to the issues that are close to the people. But with this campaign, we didn't want to talk on female foeticide as enough has been said about it. We wanted to connect with people on a different note and hence zeroed on women empowerment and gender equality. Today women are at the forefront of every avenue we can think of and playing a great role in developing the world."

The Hindi daily is running an editorial campaign with positive women-centric stories from the deepest corners of the country. There are stories on entrepreneurs, sportspersons, musicians, scholars, professionals and others on how they have broken the barriers of society and changed it.

Sanjay Dev, coordinator, Amar Ujala Foundation, says, "The publication is dedicating the year to women, and will be calling 2014 as 'Meri Beti Meri Shaan'."

With 'Beti' or daughter as the theme, the Hindi daily is inviting entries for a painting competition across these two states. The 12 best paintings will be chosen by renowned artist Aparna Kaur and will be turned into a calendar that will be sent to media organisations. The publication claims to have received more than 13,000 entries till date.

Amar Ujala has also launched a pledge-taking activity that attempts a world record to beat the previous record by an American coffee brand. Through the activity, the brand urges people to pledge to give equal respect to daughters; the counting will take place during January 10-24. The activity is currently on in villages, schools, colleges and offices across these two states. The Hindi daily has also published a 'Shapath Patra' and has set up collection centres for it. It claims to have got over 2 lakh pledges even before the counting for the record began.

Other on ground activations include 600 odd nukkad nataks or street plays and branding vans moving across all these areas. In some areas, it has also organised marriage counselling camps.

On the digital front, the publication is running banner ads on its website along with positive women-centric stories. It is also promoting the campaign via Facebook.

The Hindi daily has also tied up with actor Madhuri Dixit, the protagonist of Gulab Gang, a film on women empowerment, and shot a commercial with her. This commercial is being carried for promotions across online and offline channels.

Narsimhan admits that the campaign will definitely create a buzz for brand Amar Ujala in the market. Along with promoting a cause, it is also expected to strengthen women readership.

Amar Ujala has 18 editions in seven states and one Union Territory covering 167 districts. It claims to have a readership of over 3 crore and circulation of about 22 lakh copies.