Aaj Tak: An Eye Opener

The India Today Group-owned news channel Aaj Tak has launched a marketing campaign with a series of films that take on the peculiar world of today's newsmakers. Directed by ace Bollywood director Pradeep Sarkar, the films highlight the inimitable style of the news brand Aaj Tak.

Using humour and creative licence, the series of black-and-white commercials, present some major news stories to drive home the point that Aaj Tak is an eye-opener of society. The varied themes of the films highlight Aaj Tak's courage to call a spade a spade.

Talking about the campaign, Ashish Bagga, Group CEO, India Today Group, says that Aaj Tak has dominated the news space in India for the last 15 years since its inception.

"Aaj Tak was the first news channel to cross the 100 million viewership barrier consistently for 20 weeks in a row. It was the perfect time to thank viewers, and also reinforce the fact that Aaj Tak will always live up to the promise of 'Sabse Tez', the channel's tagline. The campaign's objective is to highlight the peculiarities of today's newsmakers, and establish the clear dominance and own the topicality like no one else has ever done," explains Bagga.

Pradeep Sarkar, the director of the films, and the man behind Aaj Tak's first TVC after the channel was launched, adds, "It must have been around 15 years since we did the black-and-white Aaj Tak launch ads, and when we got the opportunity to do another campaign for the same brand, it was challenging. I hope I have not let the brand down. I genuinely feel that Aaj Tak is 'Sabse Tez'."

The campaign celebrates the channel's success across rating frontiers to reassure viewers that Aaj Tak will continue with fearless journalism and will always be the leader in that space.

Talking about the execution, Sarkar says that news as a genre is better if not in colour. Aaj Tak has always presented news in black-and-white and has stood by facts.

"The execution style was memorable to our viewers from the earlier series of ads done over 15 years ago. We kept the treatment style the same as the earlier ads had built a timeless connect with the Indian viewer by breaking the clutter," he opines.

The campaign will be promoted on television channels across GECs, movie, sports and the news channels from the Group. In addition, the spots are being showcased on social media, digital and mobile platforms.