We've been very bold in taking up causes: The Hindu's Aparajita Biswas

News media organisations are expected to call out those drunk on power. When they do not, democracy suffers the most. The Hindu’s Republic Day ad—with the clever use of an ambigram—doubles down on the irreplaceable relationship the press shares with a strong democracy.

A brainchild of the independent creative agency Talented, the word democracy becomes journalism when the readers flip the newspaper’s page. The copy on both sides read: “A republic thrives when its press reflects not just the rights we have, but the wrongs we must correct. For 146 years, The Hindu has been the mirror that holds power accountable.” 

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Written in black and set to a white background, the ad achieves what most brands want from their moment marketing ads—attention. “The entire purpose of doing this campaign was to reaffirm The Hindu’s commitment to truth, integrity and the values of democracy,” says Aparajita Biswas, head of marketing, The Hindu Group. 

The messaging comes at a crucial time when journalism is not only battling social media for its very existence but is reporting on and about a post-truth world increasingly becoming insular and intolerant.

It is not the first time the newspaper has picked up on important topics through its ads.

One remembers Meet The Dumbest Creature On The Planet from the newspaper on March 3, 2020, for World Wildlife Day that, through evocative copy and art, showed us who’s the real fool on Earth. Written by Ogilvy’s Nikhil Narayanan and designed by Vidyanath PA, it won the Gold Award at the 2020 Kyoorius Creative Awards. 

Or read its 2022 International Women’s Day campaign to end name-calling of ambitious women: “Feminazi, Hunterwali, Maharani, dare they call you anything nice.” 

Biswas acknowledges The Hindu’s penchant for taking on such issues in its ads. “We have been very bold, in taking up causes. Also, we have been very bold and experimental with how we design our creative messages.”

The brief was to stand out from the R-Day ad messaging clutter but not stray from the newspaper’s values. “Everybody is going to talk about democracy, India, and its values… how do we stand out and also stay true to the purpose and stay true to our mission?”

Talented then came up with the idea of the ambigram. What is noteworthy is that The Hindu Group has creative agencies Ogilvy and Talented on its roster. When asked about how it balances the two, Aparajita explained that the group has divided its four brands (The Hindu, BusinessLine, Frontline, and Sportstar) amongst the two agencies. 

While the newspaper wanted to stand out on Republic Day, was it the best day to talk about the press and democracy? For instance, imagine The New York Times puts out an ad saying it stands for the truth on the day of Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, which would have gone viral, than on the 4th of July, the country’s Independence Day. 

The Hindu Group's marketing head disagreed and said Republic Day was an apt choice because it was the day when India embraced its constitution and became a republic. There is no better day than January 26 to highlight the relationship a republic and its press share with each other.

Was she expecting the ad to make more noise online? These days, it has become a trend for an offline billboard or print ad to make a lot of noise on social media platforms. Turns out, not so much.

“We believe in print,” says Aparajita. Yes, the newspaper has promoted this ad online, but print is a priority. “We first wanted to reach out to our print readers, our loyal readers, and treat them with something very nice and innovative and exciting.” If the print ad was for its subscribers, were the online promotions for potential subscribers? “Correct,” adds the marketing head.

Compare this ad to its rivals’ ads, and one could assume The Hindu is still indulging in brand building. Aparajita disagrees. “I don't think that this is a brand-building exercise; we took out this ad to tell everybody that we remain committed to the values of democracy. We have for 146 years and will continue to do so for the years to come.”