THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWSPAPER | Lead India | 2008
India's First Grand Prix: The Day a Newspaper Decided to Change a Country / THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWSPAPER "Lead India"
At Cannes Lions 2008, India's first-ever Grand Prix didn't go to a drink or a car, but to a newspaper. And it wasn't just an ad campaign, either. It was the story of a newspaper that seriously tried to raise up the country's next leaders.
The problem
In 2007, India marked 60 years of independence. The economy was growing, but young people between 25 and 45 had stopped believing in their politicians. The Times of India decided to stop being just a paper that reported the news, and start being part of what changed society. That's how Lead India began.
The insight
What JWT Mumbai found was this: everyone already knew the problems, and everyone already knew the answers—but nobody was acting on them. What people lacked wasn't ability, it was a place to speak up and be trusted. So the newspaper became that place. Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan took part without pay, because this wasn't an ad campaign—it was a movement for the nation.
The idea
First, through a feature called "India Poised," the newspaper laid out the country's problems in its pages. Then came the "Do" campaign, asking "If you were a leader, what would you do?" and inviting people to apply. From 37,000 entries, eight finalists were chosen. In December, a reality show aired on STAR One, and the winner received funding for a public project, a leadership course at Harvard, and support to run in the next election.
What happened
At Cannes, the campaign won the Grand Prix in the Direct category, along with an Integrated Lion and a Design Gold Lion. JWT India placed second for Direct Agency of the Year, and the campaign also won the Grand Effie at that year's Effie Awards.
Afterthought
Can advertising do more than sell—can it actually change things? Lead India feels like the most serious answer to that question I've seen. When a newspaper's real commitment meets an agency's craft, advertising can become a force that moves society.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2008
Featured in
- Only the Ones Marked 'First'Reading through the Grand Prix records in order, from the very first in 1954 to 2022
