BBC World: Putting the world on India’s map

For the first time in its 15 years of existence in India, BBC World has rolled out a local campaign focussed on Indian audiences and aspirations. The communication has been designed around the idea, ‘What affects the world, affects you’. This is a step ahead of the global campaign ‘Putting news first’ it launched three years ago.

The primary agenda of the campaign is to convince Indian audiences of how worldwide events can impact their lives here. Vaishali Sharma, head of marketing and communication, BBC World, India, explains the other objective, “Apart from establishing the relevance of international news in the Indian audiences’ mind, there was a need to strengthen the connect with the consumers and reach out to their lives.”

The ad communication plan comprises two television commercials, three outdoor campaigns and Internet ads. The crux of the communication is depicting an international event and showcasing its repercussions on the Indian audience. The ads links deforestation in the Americas to the floods in Mumbai, the crisis in the Middle East to petrol price fluctuations in India, and global fashion to the flourishing Indian textile market.

The ad will be aired on television channels such as HBO, National Geographic Channel, The History Channel and some English news channels. A few online sites such as Rediff, MSN and Sify will be included in the media plan. Outdoor will be used extensively in places such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kerala and Bengaluru. Apart from these, on-ground activities, contests and interactive concepts are also being developed.

The campaign idea took birth as a result of a qualitative analysis conducted by BBC World across cities to gauge what the viewer really wants. The research suggested that for the viewer, ‘relevance’ and ‘impact of news’ were crucial.

Talking about the need for a localised campaign, Sharma says, “Through this India-specific campaign, we hope to demonstrate how world events, as covered by BBC World, can have an impact on us all and how BBC World can bring the world to India and India to the world.” She is undeterred by the proliferation of news channels in the country today and says that BBC World complements other Indian news channels.

The campaign was executed by Vyas Giannetti Creative. Elaborating on the reflection of the Indian viewers’ mindset in the ads, Sanjay Sipahimalani, executive creative director, Vyas Giannetti Creative, says, “Amidst so many news channels in the market, we realised that we needed to position BBC World as a channel that helps viewers understand domestic issues in a wider context and stay abreast of global events.”

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