Iconic Ads: The Times of India – A Day in the Life of India

The Times of India is a paper that keeps a close track of the happenings in the country. It wanted to bring out the strength of the connection it had with the reader and establish the fact that it came with a heritage.

Enterprise Nexus was the agency handling the creatives in the late 1990s. The first print advertisement was released with the line “A Day in the Life of India” written by Mohammed Khan. It had a sardonic approach to all the happenings in the country, spoofing the problems faced by the people. Hidden was the message that the change which people desire has to come from the people themselves.

It all started with press campaigns and ever since it has moved to the television media as well. Many famous creative persons have contributed to this – Raj Kamble, Bhupal Ramanathkar, Arun Kale, Zarwan Patel, Prashant Godbole, Freddy Birdy, Naved Akhtar, Prasoon Pandey, Abhijit Avasthi, Shivjeet Khullar, Agnello Dias and many more.

Usually topical, the prevailing situation is highlighted. The creatives are usually ‘a depiction of it can happen only in India.’ It shows the foibles that are so Indian. And funnily enough, the people have accepted them.

The Times of India chose to behave like a leader and not talk numbers. And the underlying objective was to communicate that ‘nobody knows India, as well as The Times of India, does’.