Shah rukh khan to 'Lead India'

JWT is handling the creative duties of the campaign, while it is the brainchild of Agnello Dias, NCD, JWT. The campaign breaks on August 14. The campaign will be launched with a two-minute film and will also feature on the front page of The Times Of India.

The Group has roped in actor Shah Rukh Khan for its first film. The TVCs of the campaign have been divided into six films with six different personalities communicating the message of the Talent Hunt. Along with Khan, the other personalities include Nandan Nilekani, Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors, Infosys Technologies Limited; Sunil Mittal, CMD, Bharti Group; Navin Jindal MD, Jindal Steel Power Ltd, and MP; Sachin Pilot, India’s youngest MP; Sabrina Lal; lyricist Javed Akhtar, and actor Abhishek Bachchan.

Elaborating on the idea of the campaign, Rahul Kansal, Brand Director, The Times of India, said, “Today we find the quality of politics getting hijacked with words like corruption. We thought of finding a way out where one needs to bring out the idea of meeting young people and explaining to them the importance of politics. As a young and free country, we need young Indians to enter politics. So TOI is taking this step to create a platform for the youth of India who possess the quality of a good citizen, and leadership, thus giving them an opportunity to make a difference.”

The campaign is a six-month long activity in search of young dynamics. On the promotional activities and tie-ups, Dias informed, “The activity will be across the print and television. Under television, we have six films showcasing the personalities roped in to communicate the message. The campaign will go across the Times Group network like Times Now and Zoom channels, and the other print networks like TOI and ET. For digital, the websites will be accessible.”

Talking about the criteria on the hunt, Kansal said, “As the hunt is for the youth, so definitely the age bar will be between 18-45 years. While other considerations like police record and a good citizenship will be taken note of, if a person is educated, it will be an added plus point to his/her characteristic.”

In every issue of the newspaper, there will be a nomination form that the contestant can enrol himself/herself for the hunt or log-on to the Times Group website for the enrolment.

TOI will also have a special content line-up provided for August 15. It will have 24 pages talking on the campaign and will have interviews of the six personalities on their views and their experiences about the whole campaigning of the Talent Hunt.

Kansal commented, “As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Independence, TOI takes a first-of-its-kind initiative to present the youth of India an opportunity to make a difference. So this is one way that we will celebrate our Independence, and so have planned to break the campaign on the eve of I-Day.”

By: Tasneem Limbdiwala Source: TOI